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[LordArchibald]

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.

Very well, I surrender to the popular demand

http://igg.me/at/pocketspaceempire/ (check "Updates" the download link is there, in the first update)

[flap]

Thank you for the demo !

It is more than just a galaxy explorer : we can see a big part of the empire management interface ! The different ships we can assign to fleet look particularly promising !

Will there be some weird space/planetary features to discover around the map, or special events ? The interface seems well suited to distille juicy flavor text...

[LordArchibald]

Thank you for the demo !

It is more than just a galaxy explorer : we can see a big part of the empire management interface ! The different ships we can assign to fleet look particularly promising !

Will there be some weird space/planetary features to discover around the map, or special events ? The interface seems well suited to distille juicy flavor text...

Hmmm, I guess it's more than a galaxy viewer... But note that the empire management interface is the part I was not so eager to show since it's very incomplete

Anyway, I glad you liked the fleet management. I was afraid it might be confusing (since no game used that system), but I guess it's clear enough. Aren't there too many options/buttons in the fleet panel?

As for planetary features and the like: primarily there will be ancient ruins from which your imperial archeologists will excavate various artifacts and study these (it slightly like a different (additional) research system, but slightly). As for special events I planned these on the audience level (people pop up with random discoveries/deals/etc) rather than planetary level. But these would be tied up I guess (like you discover something on a planet and then the follow up is on audience).

[LordArchibald]

And today is the greenlight launch.... http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=472423794

Sigh... Really, it's sooo exchausting to make all these weird things I just wanted to code the freaking game!
Found some time in the morning and coded load/save system. Oh yes, and before that I made the imperial court factions (looks reasonably cool), but at the moment I'm too tired to make an exciting post about it, sorry

[Mephansteras]

Voted for it on Greenlight. Good luck!

[LordArchibald]

Voted for it on Greenlight. Good luck!

You see what you have done!? It's because of people like you irresponsibly clicking things on the internet things like that happen all the time


Just got the email last night, party time for me

[Jarvis]

Just finished reading through the thread. This looks pretty interesting so far. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this one.

[LordArchibald]

Update:
- the crowdfunding failed, instead I went for Pre-order & Early Access system
- started a SteamGroup as the main place for discussion (but I'm still visiting this forum, so feel free to post wherever you prefer) http://steamcommunity.com/groups/pocketspaceempire
- I'm doing now regular "progress report" videos (at least monthly) on YT https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCps-DZqxTNj7vrTMvSfml1A
- v0.10 released (EA)

About Early Access
Well, I don't want to advertise it too much... It's a very early version, devs usually don't release a game at that early stage. I decided to do it because it suits my style of working, I love to include the feedback from players as I go, it's much easier than trying to change things when the game is near the final release.

The current version (v0.10) is a prototype, a sophisticated tech demo I would say with barebone mechanics, not for casual players, more for people who love to explore and observe how things are built and maybe provide some feedback (you can also play with the settings, just open balance.ini in your notepad).

Anyway, if you think you are ready to overlook the numerous issues this version has you can buy it here: http://www.PocketSpaceEmpire.com of course it will have the SteamKey included later (which is unavoidable since the game was greenlit ).

[Retropunch]

Sorry to hear crowdfunding didn't work out. It's a tough market for it at the moment with people wary after so many failed promises/problems. I'm really glad you're pushing on though!

Although I know you've already released your first Early Access build, I'd suggest releasing the first one (or one at a certain juncture) as free to all as it's difficult to 'get' the game without having a go with it, and I'm sure it'd help get a lot more people on board.

I know a lot of hard work has gone into it and that you already have a few titles under your belt, but unfortunately it takes a lot for people to trust early access products these days, especially when the product itself isn't far along. Releasing out an early candidate into the wild would really help grab attention in my opinion.

[LordArchibald]

Although I know you've already released your first Early Access build, I'd suggest releasing the first one (or one at a certain juncture) as free to all as it's difficult to 'get' the game without having a go with it, and I'm sure it'd help get a lot more people on board.

I know a lot of hard work has gone into it and that you already have a few titles under your belt, but unfortunately it takes a lot for people to trust early access products these days, especially when the product itself isn't far along. Releasing out an early candidate into the wild would really help grab attention in my opinion.

The quality and completness of this version is unsufficient to release it for free With paid one only people who know what they are doing would grab it at this stage At the moment I'm looking for the "experimentators" who are not easiliy discouraged and simply enjoy doing these things. The version for the general public will be later.

[se5a]

The art reminds me a little of http://blendogames.com/flotilla/index.htm

[LordArchibald]

Version 0.11 (EarlyAccess) available. It's still a "prototype" branch so not recommended for majority of people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK_5iPgUQ2k

Feel free to post comments or questions if you have any.

[hemperor]

I voted for it too! cool see it greenlit, It's looking a lot like a space version of King of Dragon Pass, a super cool old-school civilization builder, with a lot of text events and decision strategy, even the art and graphics is looking similar, if you never heard of this game, you really should check  it out, for inspiration at least, it's a very good game! good luck!

[LordArchibald]

I voted for it too! cool see it greenlit, It's looking a lot like a space version of King of Dragon Pass, a super cool old-school civilization builder, with a lot of text events and decision strategy, even the art and graphics is looking similar, if you never heard of this game, you really should check  it out, for inspiration at least, it's a very good game! good luck!

Thanks
Several people mentioned KotDP, well, I would not say it's totally incorrect since some similarities there are (audiences, Imperial Court, managing governors) but calling it a KotDP in space would be an exaggeration. KotDP was event & stroyline based, with quite poor replayability (try to play it 10 times), I'm making 4X so replayability is a high priority here.

I was thinking about it a lot, how to handle it. Definitely the audience mechanic could be used for various storyline type events (which would become boring after a few plays...) but the majority should  be done somehow else I think... More procedural and merged with the gameplay. Like you have a reccuring "Emperor was Poisoned" event and you can make some actions after it happens, you can affect it by investing in PoisonTesters (technology).

Alternative solution (or additive solution) would be to make storyline events but with randomized variants of some sorts (like there are only 2 main storylines but each comes in 10 variants or each branch has 3 random variants, variants are decided upon game start, so something that starts the same in previous game might unfold quite different).
Anyway, if you have ideas on this post, I will be implementing it quite late so there is still a bit of time.

[LordArchibald]

Version 0.12 of EarlyAccess (prototype branch) released.

I'm preparing for an Alpha, so, I was trying in this version to finish all the technical things and smaller stuff.

Improvements:

• new reporting system
• interface improvements (more tooltips, etc)
• invention level mechanic finished
• max industry level mechanic
• governors have names, age, can die, competence penalty to new governors
• performance boost
• load/save
• ground combat bonus simplified
• most technologies work now (not all)
• a bit of balancing
• and many other

New features:

• "Reorganize" fleet button (super usefull)

Here is the "progress report" video: https://youtu.be/svQsWkxu828

At the moment you can buy the EA edition or preorder the game here: http://www.PocketSpaceEmpire.com expected release late 2015.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It's still a prototype, don't expect gameplay yet, if you hesitate or are not a huge fan I recommend to WAIT for Alpha/Beta release.