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[KPas]

About the game

This is a 2D space shooter with physics in the context of a galactic trade.
Instead of buying and selling goods, you deliver them. Supplies are auctioned. You will win the (fast paced) auction if you ask for less percentage than the other bidders.
Battles rarely take place in free space, but rather between asteroids or tankers, where you can use the cover tactically.



References to classic games

Elite
M.U.L.E.

Web version

You can play the game in the browser. It is completed and playable for free without any restrictions.

[KPas]

Asteroids are destructible. A pattern of cracks indicates the increasing damage. A crack always starts at one of the vertices of the polygon.

[KPas]

The huge pulsating glow ball of the sun.
The light blue border is the zone where you can draw fuel. At the same time, the temperature of the ship rises there and eventually damages it. The deeper you fly into it, the faster the tank fills and the temperature rises. The extent of this zone is subject to natural fluctuations.

[KPas]

As already mentioned, you don't trade with goods yourself, as it is the case in ELITE, but you buy supplies by auction.
Here you can see the process of an auction. The shrinking bar indicates the remaining time. The player is Jameson (blue). The winner is Enzari (green).
The whole thing is clearly based on the classic game M.U.L.E.

[KPas]

Here you can see the map in 2 zoom levels. The dotted circle shows the range for hyperspace jumps. The blinking system is the destination of the delivery you have on board.

The map already reveals a lot about the game world. There are 5 domains surrounded by dotted borders. In each domain, certain goods are considered illegal.

Dominions:

• Democracy
• Religious Leaders
• Empire
• Global Corporations
• Communist Party

Each system in these dominions indicates with its color the type of economy and at the same time the probability of encounters with outlaws/pirates.

Economy types (with ascending danger):

• Industry World
• Colony
• Mining World
• Agriculture World
• Satellite world (black market)

[KPas]

This is what a hyperspace jump looks like with C64 colors.
The ship builds up a force field to perform the jump. You always arrive near a sun.

[vdapps]

Nice, technologically interesting. In which language/environment you code it and which platform you target?

[KPas]

Hey, vdapps!
I am using Godot. (After Savage Vessels, I abandoned my home-made game engine.)
This will probably be a PC game (Windows, Linux and Mac). Maybe you can play it in the browser, I don't know yet.
I know my first post leaves a lot of questions unanswered, sorry. I will revise it soon. See you around!

[KPas]

The game has reached the point where I can provide a demo to gather feedback of all kinds.
The demo can be easily played in the browser.



The video shows the main game elements that you will have to deal with as a beginner.

[PetSkull]

Wauw! A new game :-) - I will sure check it out!

[KPas]

Glad to hear it! By the way, your Stardust Origins has probably made me revive my old resolution to make an Elite game. This one will be rather small, though.

[PetSkull]

I'm always ready to play another Elite clone 

I too needed to create a small game, so made this : https://store.steampowered.com/app/1926330/Ladder_Larry/

[mobilelast]

I like the feedback on player actions: hits, projectiles, beams are all very clearly visualized. Although the graphics are very rudimentary, all the essential parts seem to be in place.

[KPas]

Hey, thanks!
Yes, that's one of the points that's important to me in this project: to be restrained in the effects (without neglecting the feedback). This is my tribute to the C64 I grew up with.

[KPas]

In terms of game mechanics, the game is almost where it should be. The variety of ships is still missing above all.
In almost every game area you can get the appropriate help via F1 key.
One can play short sessions (5-10 min) in the browser, which are saved in each case.
The following video shows a first game, as one could experience it as a beginner.

[KPas]

The game looks simple. The gameplay is therefore unexpectedly challenging, and you don't know what to do.

However, I don't want to include a tutorial in the game. Instead, there are help pages, and in addition I provide a small series of video guides (still in progress). I think it's not uncommon to watch videos on a new game before playing it yourself. So this could work ...

Here is an excerpt from such a video guide:

[KPas]

I have now started adding details to the game world and increasing the variety. The framework for this is still the C64 color palette and vector graphics (polygons only).
The space stations, which up to now looked partly like blank canvases, are now occupied with various animated modules.

[SquidTim]

dude this looks so cool, it reminds me of like if ps1 games crossed with atari 

[KPas]

Hey, thanks a lot! Sounds like I'm pushing this thing in the right direction.

[KPas]

The large space freighters that can appear in place of an asteroid field have now also received their details. Both the freighters themselves and the containers have each received details in a complementary color.

By the way, as a matter of principle, I limit myself to one base color and one complementary color for each element.