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[LordArchibald]

I'll start to copy-paste my questions.

That's a good strategy I would say At least from the point of a game dev I don't see why we would mind

Do you plan a Linux/Mac version?

Short answer: maybe/likely but I can't promise anything.

Long answer: I plan PC(Windows) version upon release and that's the platform I develop & test the game on. But, if the game turn out sufficiently popular I would be surprised if it not end up ported to Mac/Linux. I code it on Code::Blocks (no VC++) using quite strictly platform independent libraries, so at least on the internal level there should be at most minor problems at most, I a bit worried about Mac since it's rumoured to have flawed OpenGL support (but that's just what I have heard). Anyway, if the game is ported it would be a while after release (I simply can't manage creating builds for several platform (I'm not using Unity, so I have to actually have the hardware to complile it on every single one separately) and uploading it to several online stores (that would inhibit my development pace - I want to keep it simple for as long as I can)).
BTW, the game runs flawlessly on various emulators (it would be surprising if it was not considering the crossplatform libraries I use).

IMHO one of the good way to reduce snowballing in a game where you play a leader (in contrast of playing God) is to limit the number of actions. That means is you have a small empire you can "micro" it to get better efficiency, while a big empire you're forced to make choices on what to control. It also keeps the turns of somewhat decent length and depth for both early and late game.
Or heck with artificial action limitations, just make the game real-time.

Blasphemy! Realtime is evil, turn based is the only way to go!
As for action limiters, actually I was conisidering it for a while (it was very tempting) but decided against it (maybe there will be a bit of this mechanic on audience where you could have too choose which action to take limited by your capacity as the Emperor (use of your personal time), but that would be just an addition, not the core mechanic).

[yamo]

I like big fonts and i cannot lie.

[GentlemanRaptor]

PTW so very hard.

[LordArchibald]

Races (random thoughts, dilemmas, etc)
I'm tempted to discard all "standard" alien races and just keep the weird ones Like Annihilators, Parasites, The Hive, Rebels, Pirates. It's harder to resist the desire each day Still, some "blobs of civilized alien territories" seem nice...
My thinking is, the ballance is absolutely whacked by the weird races anyway (like if they warp their fleets via transdimensional rifts and have no planets in the galaxy at all (annihilators) or just one super planets from which they cyclicly launch chaos invasion (parasites) it has no connection with the way player build military, no connection at all), so the standard races won't help here (and kind of fell incompatible).
Another reason, the game is about the Empire, the single empire run by the player. Not about "several competing empires". The standard alien races inevitably give me the feeling that they are some sort of other empires (which is bad)... Sigh...

On the other hand I do love the various colours on the star map Seeing that here live the Corrians and there Antarians (and their ambassadors visit you) is soooo cute Also it adds the mechanic of civilized vs monster aliens (which is quite nice).

I'm starting to think, maybe make the standard (civilized) races weaker? Their primary purpose would not be to be the opponent of the player (the difficulty would come from the vicious monstrous aliens, rebels, pirates) but a bit more like a "resource" or "opportunity" you can use to your advantage? A simpliest mechanic here could be "if % of colonized planets owned by civilized races falls below 50% The Hive get a combat/expansion bonus", this alone would make the player to prefer taking territories from "bad aliens" instead of "good/neutral aliens". Or when late game Annihilators come via rifts all civilized races acould be capable of stopping them more efficiently (weapon types for example) while all primitives like insects and parasites would simply hide below the surface and provide no resistance at all (therefore being useless for the overall defence of the galaxy).
The effect would be the player would still want to preserve the "civilization" in the galaxy even if such civilization is hostile to the Empire, also it would provide both role and mechanics that supports the original premise of "you being the only Emperor in the galaxy and the sole hero who can save the galaxy from mortal dangers".


Feel free to comment or post your thoughts on the topic.

[MDFification]

I think of the standard alien races as potential trade partners/protectorates rather than as conquest targets. They want something from you, you want something from them, and your goal as Emperor is to put them in the position that gives you the most of what you want possible.

It'd also be cool to have the 'standard' races view other races differently than humans view them. For example, the Empire can do diplomacy with Civ A but not Civ B: any dealing with Civ B other than war or isolation therefore requires you to foster a relationship with Civ A. But Civ C, which the Empire can deal with, is considered an implacable enemy by Civ A, so you have to make the choice to support A or C against eachother, etc. Sort of analogous to how you can't be allied with Israel and Palestine at the same time, but made more extreme by differences in language, culture and biology. 

Doing things this way would make having standard aliens more interesting IMO; you now have to choose between them (for significant advantages/disadvantages), make sure your allies come out on top, and make sure you're the dominant partner in each interaction with those you do decide to support.

[LordArchibald]

I think of the standard alien races as potential trade partners/protectorates rather than as conquest targets. They want something from you, you want something from them, and your goal as Emperor is to put them in the position that gives you the most of what you want possible.

Yeah, the premise sounds right. But what about combat? Would/should it mean you don't have to fight those civilized aliens? And what about player's expansion? Those civilized aliens might/will stay on the way and you need planets (you start with 10 and are supposed to end with around 200 of 500 total in the galaxy)...

Anyway, it seems I will need more "weird" races. Preferably those that appear "out of thin air" (so these can spawn later). So far I have:
- Parasites (cyclic invasion every 100 turns from their homeplanet)
- The Hive (scattered overminds across galaxy, no connection needed, vast territory, not that dangerous if you keeps forces on border planets)
- Annihilators (enters via rifts, late game)

I think of those (if you have ideas/comments/questions post, since I want to sort this out and discuss it a bit before implementing):
- Pirates (probably these would spawn on/overthrow a planet owned by some weak race and from there they raid nearby planets (the only race that can bypass border forces and hit inside other races territory), they spawn several such bases across galaxy, each pirates base acts independently - no coordination)
- Methane breathers (they enter via the edge of the galaxy (outskirt planets), since they want to colonize the galaxy from another galaxy; yet this means they are not that likely to face the player who is in the middle...; they are avoiding fight if possible, the bad thing about them is the unterraform the planets (methane instead of oxygen) which makes these useless for other races (all races native to the galaxy are oxygen breathers))
- War Machines (sleeping ancient machines that were built for war, then these will weak up (around turn 250 let's say) and appear on various planets (taking over these, but how exactly?), then from there they would fight everyone in sight); or make two races of war machines and they primarily fight each other while normal races are conquered mostly because they are on the way?
- I would like some other "big" race (like The Hive) with vast territory. Like some sort of "space barbarians" or some race that just want to fight...

[My Name is Immaterial]

- I would like some other "big" race (like The Hive) with vast territory. Like some sort of "space barbarians" or some race that just want to fight...

Either your standard space orcs or killer bunnies. Or reptiles.
I'm only sort of kidding about the bunnies thing.

[varsovie]

- I would like some other "big" race (like The Hive) with vast territory. Like some sort of "space barbarians" or some race that just want to fight...

Either your standard space orcs or killer bunnies. Or reptiles.
I'm only sort of kidding about the bunnies thing.

It's OK, just ask Antioch to make more Holy hand grenades.

[LordArchibald]

Got new stuff from my artist.


BTW, I will start crowdfunding & greenlight soon. If you have advices/etc about these, post them now

[LordArchibald]

Improved portraits, got enough of these to make audience screen look decent (say what you want, artists make better GFX than programmers ).

[My Name is Immaterial]

I'm loving the art-style!

[LordArchibald]

I'm loving the art-style!

Really? Well, that's good for me I suppose I said the artist to go for a simplified comic like style, thought it would benefit the mood of the game best (compatible with the slightly humouristic flavour texts that are in the game).

What you think of the throne room background (walls, floor, throne, etc)? I personally have some doubts about it (but that might be just me).

[My Name is Immaterial]

What can I say? I'm a sucker for hand-drawn-esque aesthetics.

Going over each aspect one by one:
The floor is the floor, but it does feel a bit bare for the throneroom of a intersolar empire. Maybe some rugs?
The walls are fine, but the banners and the stained glass are really cool.
        Minor suggestion that I just want to throw out: this is probably impractical, but it would be so cool if there was a tapestry in your throne room that changed, showing your empire's history as the game progressed.
The throne is very cool. I love the main shape, but the blue and red things are... a bit weird. What are they?
The pillars at nice, but possibly more elaborate decorations?
The dias feels a bit plain.

Maybe the decorations can get progressively bigger/cooler/more elaborate as your empire gets bigger/wealthier. For instance, eagles of that size on the dias makes sense for a small empire, but an empire spanning dozens of systems should have gargoyle sized eagles.

[Orfelius]

Great concept.
Awesome art style.
I will definitely keep an eye on this one.

Just please don't walk into the same pitfalls that MoO 3 did.

Btw. LordArchibald you don't have to "practice" making a commentated videos for YouTube. Just find a good youtuber that plays simmilar games and get him interested in your game. I am sure they would gladly promote your game this way in return of getting early access into the game.

[LordArchibald]

New videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHpssaoF6j8 (Research v2 - very similar to the old one, just better)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZcsBlRquYg (fleets, squadrons, ships - recommended to watch since the system described is the core of the game and one of the main tools to reduce micro)
[I have an impressions the voice is too quiet?]

What can I say? I'm a sucker for hand-drawn-esque aesthetics.

Thanks, I will pass the comment to the artist

Just please don't walk into the same pitfalls that MoO 3 did.

Btw. LordArchibald you don't have to "practice" making a commentated videos for YouTube. Just find a good youtuber that plays simmilar games and get him interested in your game. I am sure they would gladly promote your game this way in return of getting early access into the game.

MoO3? Unlikely, I loathed that game.

Hmm, an interesting point about YT videos. Unfortunatelly, I know no YouTubers that make videos about strategies If you know them, PM me some links.
Also, I think I should be the one to make crowdfunding video, so in the end I need to learn how to do with these at least an acceptable quality.
But yeah, having some "fan" that knows about video making would be quite useful indeed.