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[Bombini]

Good catch and thanks for the feedback!
This is where the new demo ends
I like your idea of having a different character on each playthrough.

This demo proved to me that the levels are fun and i still have lots of ideas what to add.
An important step. I am focusing now a lot on the gameplay in betwen.

What next:

I am fleshing out several ideas which seem to be a lot of fun (atleast on paper):

• having a much more alive starmap with trade routes and specific enemies
• rescue captive specialists which can become a crew member on your ship to get various boosts
• add story missions in between which guide you through the whole game and offer a surprising twist

...all linked to a mysterious AI of your ship

[RecidivistSW]

This was really fun.

I did get stuck on the 2nd level though.  After completely raiding the ship my craft wouldn't leave.

Also, I don't really like having to replay the initial level over and over.  It's a fine level... the first time.  But it's a little to long to have to repeat every game.

[Bombini]

Thanks for the feedback!
I forgot to set the trigger point in one of the shipd and just uploaded a fix.

After that i will adress the "fun of replay".
I want to add much more random events and also starts of the game which is actually not such a big deal:

• start as a different pirate in a different situation
• have a new generated universe

I am currently on a small vacation break. There for no updates this and next week.

Cheers!

[Bombini]

Work continues after a busy parental leave!

I am concepting this week all the ideas and open question and comiling them into a nearly final milestone plan.
It was helpful to not work on the game for some weeks (to get a better overview again).
I will update you end of this week.

Game start:
I am in love with the idea of different game starts and fleshing that out.
Some ideas:

• Arrested space pirate (goal: become richest pirate)
• Betrayed wife (goal: find ex husband)
• Adventurer inherited space ship (goal: find space Eldorado)
• Headhunter  (goal: Kill certain charatcers)
• Poor Royal trying to get his reputation back (goal: become king of the universe)

Second bigger feature:
I am concepting the idea of crew members which can be rescued and will give the player the possibility for upgrades and new features.


Upgrades can be:

• more damage for weapons
• shield for spaceship (no damage in nebula)
• beam player to ship if health is zero
• more max health

[Bombini]

I decided to implement the upgrade system first because it supports all other systems in the game.
A rough version is working and i will fine-tune and finish it till the end of next week.

Below a work-in-progress screen of the update screen when you talk to one of the rescued crew members:



So far i have a technician with the following updates:

• more max health
• more damage for weapons
• shield for player
• beam player back to shuttle if health is zero

I will add a navigator:

• shield for ship
• more max fuel for ship
• better armor for ship

The upgrades should all be meaningful.
So far its very rewarding rescuing the team members.
I will stick to these two first and they wont disappear.
Thats too much work right now.

[Bombini]

Work in progress...see below the update screen working.
I decided to keep the access simple.

You just have to step next to the rescued crew member on the left of your ship.
The purchased update increases the laser shot damager from 1 to 2:

[Bombini]

Update system:
Updating the laser gun and max health works fine so far.



I added/optimized the save/load system:

• It saves the game attributes and starmap progression every time you reach a new encounter
• You can load that state after dying

I updated the available demo version as well. There is a small "hickup" when the game saves (flash version). Not sure if thats avoidable.

Next:
Working on the different starting situation in case you die and want to start over or just have another playthrough with a different story/character.
I also want to add another crew member who focuses on updates for your ship.

[oodavid]

This was really good, but my (spanking new) macbook struggled on some of the bigger levels - the first few were fine, I think the fourth planet I visited made the computer cry

[Bombini]

This was really good, but my (spanking new) macbook struggled on some of the bigger levels - the first few were fine, I think the fourth planet I visited made the computer cry

Thanks!
And yes...i am aware. The game will be "Download Mac/PC". The webversion is just a demo.
I will advance the demo and add some more faeture before i will provide you guys with a downloadable file.

Cheers!

[Bombini]

Status:
I started working on the star map simulation.
The star map should feel alive and react to a certain degree on the actions of the player.

The plan:

• The star map needs to be different every time you start a new game
• The star system should react on the players actions
• There will be a different meta goal (to win the game) every time you start a new game

Details:

Star map & Factions:
There are factions in the game as you might know.
I currently have humans, aliens, ice creatures and robots. I plan to embed more.
Each of these factions will have one or more home planets as well as a value how much they don’t like you. Let’s say 0 is “neutral” and 60 would be “we hate you a lot”.

The value will be decreased every time you raid a ship of one faction depending on the difficulty of the encounter.  
Attack 5 ships in a row (each – 10) and you are in trouble (-50). The encounters will have more enemies the lower the value but the home planets will also start to spawn ships that will hunt you.  Each faction will have one color.

Now…what do you do? Either you don’t care and kill everything insight or you lower the level again.
How do you do that? Either by not attacking more (the value will go slowly down every x turn) or you attack the home planet making it difficult to send hunters towards you.

Will it be fun? I am going to find out soon!
Should there be interaction between the factions?
Might be too much.

Goals:
Every new game start will give you a specific goal. Find x artifacts, kill x specific persons, find x specific coordinates….the game will end once you found the final one. They will all use the same system.
Some ships (treasure and reward grind) travel on routes while scripted and important encounters won’t move and will disappear once solved.

[Scifa]

I had quiet a few playthroughs, there is a couple of ways of doing the bank job, sneaky sneak or blast your way in and out! That was a really well designed level.

I did find a few bugs
- If you shoot the chamber it blocks the route? (See screen shot)
- Weapon equipment slots aren't showing the weapons (Screen Shot)


- Some descriptions about what the weapons do, I was using the alien blaster to dig a tunnel and my heath was going down, even through i was well away from the blast.
- You mentioned a shop to buy new gear, I couldn't find it or did I miss something?
- I thought it might be better if the levels can't be visited again, as you can just stock up on fuel, health etc

I really enjoyed this, it was a good fun, keep at it! Looking forward to the updates.

[Bombini]

Thanks Scifa!

I fixed the bugs in the demo (slipped through):
+ weapon slots
+ cyro block
+ blaster hit area
The shop is done but not in the levels yet.
Levels should disappear; i agree.

I am working on a huge update which i will consider Alpha.
It will be a download version for PC/Mac.

Regrading my former post:

I got a suggestion:

“Perhaps there is a way for you to raid a ship and not take the hit to your faction score (or maybe not all of it). I can imagine that if there were some way you could keep word of you being involved from reaching the faction that would be a favored "secondary objective" by the players.”

1. Disable communications when attacking (purchase a jammer module? destroy their transmitters?)
2. Prevent the enemies from triggering a distress signal when boarding.
3. Stealth attack modules.
4. Complete ship destruction (it went into the Space Bermuda Triangle!)

I think this is a very good idea!

I was thinking in that direction and i am happy that you see it that way. It allows a different playstyle.
What i already have: Detection mode for enemies, triggering a local alarm and security cameras.
This is a good basis.

Lets take a look:

• Disable communications: I would embed a transmitter/communication terminal which can be destroyed - No signal gets out if destroyed. there could be multiple terminals though...maybe
• Prevent distress signal: I guess i would link that to to the transmitter
• Stealth attack modules: I could give the player a stealth suit and link that to enemies and cameras. Not sure if its too powerful though or how it would work in detail. I might do that but its more complex
• Complete ship destruction: I already have that option. The tiles start to disappear if you kill the reactor. I guess it could send a distress signal until the transmitter is destroyed

I would keep the local alarm (triggering more enemies and making levels a bit more hostile) that i have and start a counter if there is a transmitter onboard. The fraction value will be changed if this counter reaches zero. (This should be visible at the transmitter).

[Bombini]

I think it's important to show in the interface how much a faction likes/dislikes you.
GTA 2 had something similar for the gangs.

Would you prefer the GTA2 style or the one with the smileys?

Right now it doenst make sense to show "positive" because you cant do jobs for a faction.
I could link it though to "attack Faction A" increases value for Faction B.
That would be very close to the Pirates from Sid Meier.

[Bombini]

I realized that i have first to build the system which allows several characters and stories to play before i go deeper into the starmap system. The game is now checking which character the player unlocked and modifies the game accordingly (I am basically placing a lot of empty container actors which check for attributes):

• Different goals and levels
• Different character
• Different starmap generation

I have a rough version running but need to test and debug because i have to change all "actor type" behaviours to group methods.

[Low_Chance]

This game looks awesome and I am excited to play it. It's a great concept and it looks like your focus is on fun... I can just imagine the stories people will tell about their crazy adventures in this game.

I think it's important to show in the interface how much a fraction likes/dislikes you.
GTA 2 had something similar for the gangs.

I hate to be that guy, but you definitely mean "faction"

[Bombini]

I hate to be that guy, but you definitely mean "faction"

Thanks!
..and a lot thanks for noticing. Yes... i am German

[Bombini]

I got the system working.
The game is now supporting different characters which have different goals and levels and acts accordingly to the selected character. They have to be linear unlocked.
This is not in the demo yet but will be part of the upcoming Alpha.

[Low_Chance]

This is not in the demo yet but will be part of the upcoming Alpha.

I think the differing goals per-character is a great idea. Looking forward to the alpha release.

[Bombini]

Thanks!
I am working on the goals trigger system on the starmap now.
Here is a draft for the "mood UI":

[Bombini]

What happened last week:
I advanced the upgrade system. You know find a crew member (poorly hidden in the example below) and are able to get updates through him/her. Text, updates and crew members are displayed correctly now.

Next:
The starmap again with moving ships and the mood system discussed earlier.


(gif looks a bit grumpy due to size reduction)