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[flap]

Also, have you tried that empire  management game ?
It had been made for a ludum dare a while ago. (So, the UI and IA are extremelly basic)

The scope is really different from your game, as at best you'll control 6 or 7 countries, we are game is limited to 9 turns.
But they way trading, industry, diplomacy and military force blend is really well done. I won't wonder if you could borrow some of theses stuff..;

What I particularly like is the limited number of decision you can make each turn. This forces you prioritizing, and it is really where I fell like an emperor : great power, but too many things to do.

The old tactical space game begin had this too (As many ships as you want, but one command only per turn...)

[LordArchibald]

These different stages sound interresting. But you would to be carefull them not to be just a mandatory tedius part which don't have much impact in the future.

For example if most of the time, by the end of those 50 first turns your empire looks the same (more or less 100 planets), then it is not very interresting.
But if those early turns have a dramatic impact on the rest of the game, opening entirelly different path, now it becomes very interresting. Maybe the way you have dealt with your early neighbours could totally change your late empire physionomy (maybe through technology path opened you got from partnerhsips with aliens, long term alliance,...).
The way you explained it, I am coming to think of those early game turns as character building in a RPG... Is that what you are planning ?

EDIT : as a side note, will there be only one viable strategy (/path) or will we have different choices ?
If you have played Royals   there are at least 5 very different path to win (ranging from the warmonger destroying and conquering everything, the tycon buying everything, to the developper turtling in its place and growing a powerfull economy)

Hmm, let's put it that way, in all space 4X you need to get X planets in order to have a chance. What I mean is merely saying it straight up to the player "if you don't get X planets by turn Y it means you have no chance later on so we will put you out of your misery by a game over now, try better next time". I meant it as a blow of grace (so you don't need to play 500 turns and then die horribly at the very end), so my idea was to make these "checks" along the way to weed out hopless situations.
Note in a typical game you would be simply conquered by another race (so practiaclly it's the same effect), in this game I wanted to give the player a lot of options to overcome enemies (diplomacy, tribute, intrigue) so an instant game over by enemy conquest would be avoidable (yet, in such scenatio I need some other game over conditions along the way).

Hmm, OK, maybe "get 50 planets by turn 100" sounds not so good. How about "100 prestige by turn 100 or you face a big rebellion" (where the major source of prestige is planets)? Or some alternatives like "200 prestige" OR "100 prestige and 50 planets" OR "100 prestige and acknowledged by all major races"?

These different stages sound interresting. But you would to be carefull them not to be just a mandatory tedius part which don't have much impact in the future.

For example if most of the time, by the end of those 50 first turns your empire looks the same (more or less 100 planets), then it is not very interresting.

This is my fear - having a stage of the game that you just have to kinda 'get through' before you can get to the good stuff gets kinda annoying, especially if it's pretty straight forward/not too taxing. I completely get that you're wanting the game to be about the cool endgame, but as flap says, unless you've got concrete ways of making the build up to 100 or so planets very interesting and meaningful, then I'd let the player just start at the point.

Well, I don't think it will be a real danger... You start fighting from the very beginning, you don't build economy for 200 turns so you can later fight for 100 turns. Since the aliens are asymmetric (and do not try to win the game) I'm not forced to follow the traditional 4X pace.

So, I don't think it will be "early boring, late interesting" thing...

Kind of weird that there's no women in this universe.

After crowdfunding camapign At the moment my funds are thin and I save on everything (like art assets) I can

Looks interesting. I need to do a proper read through of the thread at some point, so PTW for now.

For a summary I suggest YT channel or the Tumblr blog:
* YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCps-DZqxTNj7vrTMvSfml1A (videos)
* Tumblr: http://silverlemur.tumblr.com/ (text)
Also the very first post here is a good summary of the game core.

[LordArchibald]

OK, I'm starting crowdfunding (IndieGoGo) very soon. So the day of truth is near We will see if that kind of game can get attention or not

Of course I will post here about it as usual, but in case you don't check this topic too often you could add your email here http://eepurl.com/blcMDr to be notified directly.
(I do hope to get some support from some of you on day 1)

[Retropunch]

OK, I'm starting crowdfunding (IndieGoGo) very soon. So the day of truth is near We will see if that kind of game can get attention or not

Of course I will post here about it as usual, but in case you don't check this topic too often you could add your email here http://eepurl.com/blcMDr to be notified directly.
(I do hope to get some support from some of you on day 1)

Great to hear, I'll happily throw some cash your way!
However, I'd really, really recommend only doing a crowdfunding with either a demo or at the very least a really good trailer. For indie/untested/not well known devs it's just too much of a risk for people to want to put much money into, and it becomes difficult for others to promote your game on your behalf.
This is multiplied by the vision of your game which is both original and somewhat difficult to convey simply. I really don't mean to put a downer on things, I just would hate for you not to get proper backing.

[LordArchibald]

OK, I'm starting crowdfunding (IndieGoGo) very soon. So the day of truth is near We will see if that kind of game can get attention or not

Of course I will post here about it as usual, but in case you don't check this topic too often you could add your email here http://eepurl.com/blcMDr to be notified directly.
(I do hope to get some support from some of you on day 1)

Great to hear, I'll happily throw some cash your way!
However, I'd really, really recommend only doing a crowdfunding with either a demo or at the very least a really good trailer. For indie/untested/not well known devs it's just too much of a risk for people to want to put much money into, and it becomes difficult for others to promote your game on your behalf.
This is multiplied by the vision of your game which is both original and somewhat difficult to convey simply. I really don't mean to put a downer on things, I just would hate for you not to get proper backing.

Thanks I'm not sure about the trailer's quality but I put a bunch of videos on my channel so far, wouldn't these be enough to convey the gameplay? Or maybe add more of these? YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCps-DZqxTNj7vrTMvSfml1A
Anyway, I feel I should do this crowdfunding thing very soon or I will never launch it, there is always "something I can improve"

Here is a preview of the campaign: http://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/f12c5571 (I will need to do a second video "about me" )
If you have some quick comments, advices post them now.

[LordArchibald]

Most likely tomorrow I will launch the campaign (indiegogo). Will make a new post here then.

I count on your support!
(the game is quite cheap for this genre, just $10, didn't want to make it so only the rich can get it, so I hope that at least some people will go for one of the premium tiers

[LoSboccacc]

do you plan to have a demo out during the campaign and before it ends?

[LordArchibald]

do you plan to have a demo out during the campaign and before it ends?

No, it's too unbalanced and too many key features are missing for a demo to make sense at this stage (it was closed tested). But there is a lot of videos showing various mechanics (the ones that are implemented).

[flap]

Backed !

I reckon, a demo would have been powerfull for demonstration... But if the game is not ready for that, then it is not !
Good luck !

Also, have you made progress in your thought to maintain tension throughout the different game phases ? (early, medium, late game)

[LoSboccacc]

But if the game is not ready for that, then it is not !

true but since the last trends in kickstarting I've stopped backing things that are little more than a video.

No, it's too unbalanced and too many key features are missing

I see.

on an unrelated note I'll wait in line to buy it at release, for now I think there is too much of underestimating effort going on to bet on it

[LordArchibald]

Backed !

Right, I forgot to write about the crowdfunding start

Crowdfunding just started (2015-06-24) http://igg.me/at/pocketspaceempire/

Also, have you made progress in your thought to maintain tension throughout the different game phases ? (early, medium, late game)

I have recoded The Hive (insectoids), now it launches rocks as planned. Worked out great (there is also a twist, they do it every 5 turns for 2 turns, it's a mini cycle, perfectly predictable), it provides a constant non lethal border tension for the player. Also changed the generator for minor/major races.
So, these alone should be quite effective balance wise now. If not enough then weakeup of sleeping war machines should do the trick

Note it will be (also) the player that says when to go to the next stage (probably by some sort of "imperial levels" you can progress to; thase grants you expansion bonuses but make others more aggressive vs you).

But if the game is not ready for that, then it is not !

true but since the last trends in kickstarting I've stopped backing things that are little more than a video.

No, it's too unbalanced and too many key features are missing

I see.

on an unrelated note I'll wait in line to buy it at release, for now I think there is too much of underestimating effort going on to bet on it

Honestly, I'm not surprised. There was a really bad record of flops on KS recently. Well, who knows, maybe somehow I will manage the demo (but no promises).
(but, while I understand, I find it depressing; I have finished, released and delivered like 7 bigger games in the last 10 years, yet people still don't believe I will be able to deliver a relatively simple game like that one... I don't know what I need to do to become the "established dev" )

[LoSboccacc]

no worries is not about you personally. *hugs*

it's just that past record are of little indications on present performance in the industry and while I envy you immensely for being able to do what you do, the crowdfunding model gives very little rope to evaluate projects on their merits

[LordArchibald]

no worries is not about you personally. *hugs*

it's just that past record are of little indications on present performance in the industry and while I envy you immensely for being able to do what you do, the crowdfunding model gives very little rope to evaluate projects on their merits

Thanks, each dev should get a hug during a traumatic period like greenlight/crowdfunding/release

Anywy, I got an idea, how about "map generator demo"? While I'm not ready to release a game demo I could toss together quite quickly a demo to show how the galaxy generator works and the interface (basicly EndTurn disabled). Do you think that would help?

[flap]

Maybe. At least there is something to play with... But, I have no idea how we behave and what we expect as a funding crowd.

[Retropunch]

Anywy, I got an idea, how about "map generator demo"? While I'm not ready to release a game demo I could toss together quite quickly a demo to show how the galaxy generator works and the interface (basicly EndTurn disabled). Do you think that would help?

I'm sure it would! Really just show off as much as you can - it won't harm people's view of the final game at all, and it'll really help persuade people that you can actually deliver.