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[Gabeux]

Hello, everyone!

Maybe you've seen one of my posts around here. For many years I enjoyed wasting investing hours online rummaging through the internet to find obscure or lesser-known projects (mostly in the DF Genre or close to it in some way).
Sometimes I'd try to throw them in your faces by bumping one of our threads or making a new one.
Today, I come to you to throw a project I've been working on for a while now.


^{Watch the trailer! Don't be scared by the thunder.}

About TAR
Tech Age Rebellion is a Sci-Fi Colony Simulator game clearly inspired by games such as Rimworld (and therefore DF, but don't tell anyone), with the scale inspired by Rise to Ruins. There's also a few other inspirations, but they probably don't make it to the screen at this current development stage.
We've released the game in 'earliest access' on Itch.io in order to gauge interest and gather feedback very early on. This is a lesson we took from similar projects and it seemed fitting for this one, although it can feel a bit unnerving.



Our main goal is to make a colony-sim in as grand of a scale as it's still fun, manageable and performant, enabling hundreds of pawns to be on-screen doing their pawn things, while hopefully making threats large and varied. I'd really like to go for some XCOM-level of strategic/overworld play on this genre, too, but we're taking care about the scope (given our budget of below zero).
Once the expected systems of a colony-sim are in place, we also intend to add on a story component (that is already mostly written), making the story optional, for the most part, for the pure sandboxers out there.
We're also adding an in-map element of mystery exploration and expansion, by allowing to dig down and mine/build below.

In TAR, you command a group of civilians that ran away from a planet-spanning empire that is very keen on "correcting" those who oppose their views. Their escape plan nearly fails, as the group steals an empire-owned vessel and is pursued through the seas, later finding themselves shipwrecked in an uncharted island. They're left with no resources, no technology, and no knowledge of how to fight monstrous regimes. Turned rebels, they have no choice but to survive on their own. Turned enemies of The Communion, there's no other option but to prepare and fight.

The Rebellion Team


You can find more info on the project page or on the devlogs, but I can advance the story that we've met early-2018 when playing Eco. I was doing a modpack for it and probably won the award of most-people-contacted-in-a-game-community (for that month, at least), and one of those people was Kirthos - one of the most popular modders of the Eco community. We quickly became friends since our ideas and favorite games were extremely compatible and, after events transpired, by the start of January 2019 he asked me to join his project (that had been in development for 3-4 months) and to bring my waifu lifepartner Mari to do the art. We were glad to know Kirthos also had Lio, his childhood friend, in the team, since the guy is a tornado of ideas.

The team composition, after 1 year the development, follows the pattern below:
Gabeux - Designer, Developer, Producer, Bongo Cat: I deal with mostly the macro points of game design (such as overall UI layout, project scope, overall direction), writing, "marketing and producing" (whatever that means). I also try to be an Audio guy, and do some coding when no one is looking.
Kirthos - Lead Technical Developer, Company Admin, Monk: The game already has a sizable code base, and it wouldn't be wrong to say that vast majority of it comes from him. Being the one to formally found the company means he has to deal with all that boring fun behind-the-scenes stuff. He's also the moderate voice and moderating force during team discussions. He also does his share of game design (as implementation and how things turn out will always be a part of it), but doesn't seem to like to admit.
Lio - Developer, Designer, Tornado: Usually focus on micro points of game design (such as events, effects, specific techs and balancing), but also idealizes whole systems and features, do coding and did our release trailer. He also does the bulk of the test on our (dev) end since, even though all of us do our share of testing, he seems to have the ability to make games scream in despair.
Mari - The Artist, Wildcard: She's the lone artist, doing both concept and 2D art, making all of the game and UI art be of her doing. She's also the one with the least hours in games of the genre (while still retaining as many hours in games of the sandbox genre), making her feedback and views invaluable to keep us more grounded, or open and aware towards taking things in fresh directions.
All-in-all, although some us pull the rope of game direction in different ways at different points, we usually discuss and seek to agree on design and implementation of features, rather than having a designated 'project lead' or 'manager'. I reserve the right to be the most annoying one since I have the most DF hours and the deepest knowledge of ways to dismember an elf.
The roles mentioned above are not really designated, but is what we gravitate towards to.

Current Status - April 04, 2020



We've released the Flora & Farm Update, which brings a lot to the table.
We're currently watching for bugs, while discussing and working on showcases for a crowdfunding campaign. More info coming soon!
Again, we thank everyone for their attention into looking at our game!

Our Links
TAR Earliest Access Release Trailer
Itch.io Project Page
Itch.io DevLog
Discord
Facebook
Twitter

[Gabeux]

Hate to double post but felt weird to put this on my beautiful OP.
Since I doubt I would've had the mind and the knowledge of great games I have today without the DF community, I'll giveaway 5 keys to folks that are interested in checking out this 'earliest' release. Those keys are forever and include external keys in case we do releases in other platforms.
Per the standard here, I just ask that you post here that you're interested, throw me a PM about it, join our Discord and mention it, or PM me on Discord (Gabeux#1309) about it.
I'll save the names and use the random.org on Wednesday, 11/27/2019, announcing the winners here and sending keys through PM here or on Discord.
Currently, we have a 20% sale on Itch.io that ends in 2 days and 5 hours, so that hopefully leaves some time to get the discount if you don't get a key but keep interested.

Any leftover keys will be given on a first-come-first-served basis.
Thanks folks!

[Folly]

Looks like fun!
You can exclude me from your generous giveaway though, as I'm going to take advantage of that 20% sale right now~

[E. Albright]

I'd be interested in a shot at one of the keys, if you please.

[Sanctume]

I'm interested, and have time to play new games this weekend.  I also have to finish my succession fort turn, but that's more writing than playing. 

[Mephansteras]

Seems like a good project to keep an eye on. Doubt I'll find time to check out such an early version, but I look forward to seeing how the project goes. Good luck to you!

[kingawsume]

I would appreciate a key, I love Rimword-esqe games. Best of luck in you future endeavors!

[mightymushroom]

Enter me for a key, please. I enjoy sandbox-y builder games.

[Ethan741]

I played the hell out of Rimworld, and this looks pretty cool -- go ahead and put me in for the roulette, if you don't mind.

[Glloyd]

Hey congrats Gabeux! I wish you the best of luck in the development process! Looks very cool, I'll also put my name in for a key.

[Salmeuk]

I would appreciate the chance to try this out! I'm desperate for something new, and your short gameplay .gif showed off some interesting systems.

[RulerOfNothing]

This looks interesting, so I guess I'm also putting my name in for a key.

[EuchreJack]

I get the backstory, but what is the player going to be doing?  Does the term "Tech Age" refer to the era of the game, or will there be a research component?
Haven't played Rimworld, will the game be different other than being by sea and maybe having the Government trying to shut them down?

...actually, playing as someone that the Government wants to shut down is a pretty good selling point...

[Gabeux]

Wow, thanks for the great reception guys! If I'm getting this right, I'll do the draw tomorrow, 11AM UTC E: Huge derp, meant 2pm UTC.

I get the backstory, but what is the player going to be doing?  Does the term "Tech Age" refer to the era of the game, or will there be a research component?
Haven't played Rimworld, will the game be different other than being by sea and maybe having the Government trying to shut them down?

...actually, playing as someone that the Government wants to shut down is a pretty good selling point...

What the player will be doing: In terms of gameplay, I suppose it's similar to other games in the genre, where you build up (houses, storage, crafting stations, research labs, infrastructure), manage the colony (priorities, food supply, research and so on) and learn to defend yourself (through automated or manuals means) and do some exploration/expansion while working towards whatever sandbox or story-related goals you have. In addition, we'd really want an strategic layer where you try to poke holes in your opposition. I'm not sure this answers the question, let me know!
What Tech Age refers to: Lore-wise, Tech Age indeed informally refers to the in-game era the game takes place in. It's the era that the planet rushed itself into a near-future / sci-fi levels of research and technology, with a single faction rising to power and unifying the planet under its banner, values and beliefs. We are leaving the how's and why's of this faction success up to the player to discover (if he's interested).   
Will there be a Research component? There already is, even though it's not fully developed yet: You already have the usual tech-tree to unlock, and more content will be added to it very soon. But we plan to expand more on the feature itself, not just in terms of content. We're not sure yet on the when, or even if it will be fun - and if we don't find it fun we'll leave it up for the feedback to decide the fate of the feature - but there's at least two more layers we want to add to the Research component pretty much since we started work on the game.
Will the game be different than Rimworld? I've asked the same question before deciding to join the project. As lovers of Rimworld (literally the 4 of us really like Rimworld on the team, and I'm a bit of a Tynan fanboy), we hope that the different design philosophies and targets, larger scale, greater focus on Research and some on Exploration, expanded industries/resources, addition of caverns that you can dig down (sort like Z-levels except you can't see up/down such as in DF) and build on and, hopefully, a strategic layer of thinking and gameplay, not just differentiates it from Rimworld but pays respect to the genre by building on it and maybe taking it in slightly different directions here and there. I don't like talking much about this subject (comparisons) just because we don't have a whole lot to show just yet, especially when it comes to things that illustrate what I mean (except maybe our Research system, even on its partial development). I'm hoping that the journey to our next milestone helps clarify all of that.
I'd also say that our original vision had pawns be much more disposable or killable than I think RW went for, without it being of much weight to the player (in a resource sense). This is now difficult to let happen given our artist made them look so darn cute and angry..
Playing as someone that the Government wants to shut down is a pretty good selling point: You know, we weren't going for anything specific in regards to that, if you catch my drift, but I always really wanted some defined antagonists (both character and faction). Building him and his universe up, and having waifu our artist give him some life was just epic.


^{Meet Achsan. We have this art piece framed in our bedroom wall, and his eyes creep us out in the dark. We're seriously considering printing a version without him and replacing it..}

[Mephansteras]

Given the realities of high tech research, and a hostile government force, it might make sense for a lot of 'research' to really just be hacking/reverse-engineering captured government equipment. Which has the added benefit of making the game a little more distinct from Rimworld.