KickStarter Stellar Tactics, a sandbox sci-fi RPG - now available on Early Access

[Infinitron]

 

[DarKPenguiN]

This game is really amazing.

Picked this up yesterday thanks to the grim-wah non-release and I'm really , really liking it...

Somehow I missed this thread here or I would have grabbed this a long time ago.

 

[Jinn]

Looks awesome. Will be buying when it's closer to release for sure.

Probably my biggest critique right now is just superficial. Those UI colors are so bad. Are they just place holders?

 

[AetherVagrant]

It amuses me that the name is a double entendre.

"In space...your tactics had better be Stellar...."

 

[Jimmious]

Looks awesome. Will be buying when it's closer to release for sure.

Probably my biggest critique right now is just superficial. Those UI colors are so bad. Are they just place holders?

I've been saying about the UI colors since the first post in here about the game or something. They are infuriatingly bad. I'm not sure there's a plan to change them.

 

[anus_pounder]

Do we have a release date? :3

 

[Infinitron]

 

[StellarTactics]

DarKPenguiN - Thanks for supporting the game during Early Access. Glad to hear you are enjoying the game.

Jinn - Yes, the UI will be "skinned" once everything is done. Too many things are moving around right now. When everything is set, I'll go in and create the final UI.

anus_pounder - No release date. I'm a solo developer so it's hard to say when.

Released an updated gameplay trailer today - thanks for posting here Infinitron. Shows a lot of the progress over the last year including a lot of community suggested features and adjustments to the game.

 

[Catacombs]

This looks fun. Added to my to-play list, which is growing by the day

 

[SausageInYourFace]

One of the better youtube reviewers has put out a preview. Calls it technically poor and unpolished so far but he loves it despite that, calling it one of the most fun indie titles he played in a long time.

 

[Infinitron]

Lots of trailers recently. Release imminent?

 

[Tom Baker's Arse]

I'd be shocked. This game is in no shape to be released to market from Early Access.

 

[da_rays]

Pretty much doubt a release soon. That guy is a freaking machine tho releasing patch/hotfix on a regular basis. Here is a ''big view'' on what he said he will work on after finishing the prologue part

Spoiler

Following Prologue I'll release the ALPHA version when the following systems are ready for testing. I may roll some of these systems out during Alpha as they become ready:

• Unlock of all space sectors (10,000 total)
  
• FTL Travel - FTL map available
  
• Ground Mining drone system
  
• Space Combat - first pass ready for feedback
  
• "Autonomous Universe AI" (AUAI) faction and additional AI states
  
• Commodities Trade system
  
• Shipyards available for purchasing and customizing ships
  
• Additional Devices
  
• *DONE* - Dynamic mission generator
  
• Additional "Azimuth" available upon discovery
  
• Additional narrative and locations for the main story
  
• Bug fixes and tuning
  
• Perks through level 100
  
• *DONE* - NEW - Grenades and Health Kits will be moved to their own action bar slots.
  
• Crafting and repair

So that and a shit load of balancing and tweaking ( which is seem to be doing right now on some skill/exp gain and some other stuff ) and we will see a promising space sandbox rpg with tactical turn base combat. I really wonder what the ship combat will look like.

 

[da_rays]

2 recents screenshots from space combat . And it seem its 2 from the 40 models of ship

 

[I'm Big Into Anal]

i just bought this on a whim because of this thread

 

[Catacombs]

i just bought this on a whim because of this thread

Any good?

 

[I'm Big Into Anal]

still downloading

first world country third world internet

EDIT: christ, now the woman wants to watch netflix

might have to pause the download until the morrow

 

[Catacombs]

Please report back.

 

[I'm Big Into Anal]

will do

over and out

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

2 recents screenshots from space combat . And it seem its 2 from the 40 models of ship

http://steamcommunity.com/app/465490/discussions/0/1471969431604436426/

Stellar Tactics [developer] 30 Aug @ 1:27am
A couple of space combat shots
Code complete today on turrets and missiles. Still adding a few effects and missile damage types, tuning sounds etc. I'll be turning to the space combat components of the UI and merchants for ships and ship components. Then a few tweaks to the enemy AI. No ETA, though things are coming along faster than I expected

edit.

Stellar Tactics [developer] 22 hours ago

Hi nottrusted - Yes, asteroids are getting collisions - shields will mitigate most of that damage, I want to make sure that minor collisions are not going to inflict a game-over screen I'll be mostly focused on space for a while, improving the UI, graphics, movement system etc.

Turrets detect collision with your own ship considering line of sight and have "blind" zones based on where they are mounted. You will discover each ships ideal attack alignment with the target. Each ship is different. Turrets also track collisions with other objects in the universe - stations, other ships, asteroids, junk objects in space etc. You are going to want to avoid firing on an enemy if they are behind stations - station management will not appreciate it

Thanks everyone. I'll post updates as I progress.

Stellar Tactics [developer] 13 hours ago

AbsynthMinded - Turrets are mounted top and bottom - all weapons are turret based - projectile and missile. Combat is fully vector based. Heavy fighter craft have turrets mounted in such a way that ship collision is nominal. There are a maximum of six turret mount points depending on the ship type. The only bonus from turrets that are blocked is you gain addition capacitor recharge that round because the turret is not firing. I'm still working on the system and will play test it once all the elements are in. After that I'll let everyone give it a try and gather feedback - adjust and iterate

BuffHamster - Because the system is vector based, it's much more about the alignment of your craft and turrets to the enemy target. You need to balance heading, your capacitors, active turrets and energy output to achieve optimal damage output. This also goes for defense - you will need to make decisions based on your ships shields, hull damage, available capacitor charge and energy output. Capital ships will be a thing for the future. Right now there are 40 ships total - light transport, scout, fighter, heavy fighter, exploration and cargo (of various sizes). Bonuses to damage will be derived from the quality of your equipment, your skill level and space specific perks. You will be able to pause space combat at any time.

 

[da_rays]

For thoses who are a bit curious about the world and mechanics in Stellar Tactics , a random peasant asked on steam forum about Psionics , if the game will have them . Here is mister S. Tactics Stellar T. ( yeah that sound better ) reply:

Stellar Tactics [développeur] 5 sept. à 7h55

Hi Spindles the Keyboard Goblin - Psionics are still planned. They will come to the game through a series of side quests related to the Coven - a faction I have not talked about yet. The Coven is related to the Phage outbreak and have mutated on one of the ships that initially set out from the home planet in search of a new place to live in the Galaxy. During the trip a good number of the Sleepers on that ship gained powers that were outlawed in the Core Systems. Shortly after the Arrival, they set out into the Borderworlds and have not been heard of since.

I'll be getting into this during Alpha a bit more. They use a new series of weapons that amplify their Psionic powers

Right now I am focused on space combat.



Good to see he have a bunch of aces in the holes like that. makes you think about what hes gonan unravel next . If any codexer got an appeal for TB combat / squad management in a sci fi setting , keep a lookout for this little gem . Its still far away from completition , but it does have a good core potential.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

http://steamcommunity.com/app/465490/discussions/0/3223871682618188324/

Stellar Tactics [developer] 11 minutes ago
I'll have a progress update out in a few days
I know I've been really quiet over the last month. I've had my nose to the grind-stone and I'm really happy with the progress that's been made on space combat. I'm eager to share that with you and will put up a video that covers how everything works. This is one of largest systems left to code in the game.

The space combat system is complex, includes multiple independent turret systems, mount points, directional shields, energy systems, targeting, range, collision and many other factors. These all need to combine into a system that is fun, flexible and intuitive.

I would like to also say that while I've personally been focused on space combat, work has been taking place on other parts of the game. I've been working with a very talented 3D artist and level designer who has been working on procedural level sets and models for the game. I'll post some screenshots and info along with the progress update.

I'll get an update out in a few days. Thanks so much for your patience! I'm am here, I'm working hard and I hope you all enjoy what comes next

edit.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

http://store.steampowered.com/news/externalpost/steam_community_announcements/2149763711094916723

Combat system progress update
22 SEPTEMBER - STELLAR TACTICS

Space combat is moving along at a good pace. I thought I would share a quick video to show how the basic systems work.

YouTube™ Video: Stellar Tactics - Space Combat progress update
Views: 18
A quick update and explanation of the space combat system in Stellar Tactics. This is work in progress and what you see may change before I release the system for everyone.


The combat system is turret based. All ships have a limited number of turret mount points and beam, projectile or missile turrets can be looted or purchased. Turrets come in light and heavy variants and each of the 40 ships have specific mount specifications. Heavy weapon mount points can take light turrets if you choose to equip them.

In combat you will be managing range, power, shields and your current ship speed as well as turret targeting.

Power is critical in combat. Your turrets, shields and systems take a base amount of power to spool up and maintain. Available power feeds your ship capacitor and weapons draw from the capacitor so if your capacitor is depleted your turrets will fail to charge and fire and will wait for an available charge. Each turret draws a certain amount of power from the capacitor every time it fires with beam weapons depleting the capacitor at the highest rate. If your energy balance is off, your capacitor will not maintain its charge.

Energy balance is maintained by the number of active turrets, power to your shields, number of activated devices and power to your engines. You can balance the power to these systems by deactivating turrets and devices during combat and setting the active power charge to your engines and shields. Reducing power used by your shields, systems, turrets and engines diverts that power to your capacitor.

Each turret has a range meter - keeping your active turrets range meter green is important because turrets have range accuracy falloffs. If you're outside a turrets optimal range, your weapons may not connect. The same goes for enemy ships. Smaller faster vessels with missiles and beam weapons can go up against much larger ships that have weapons with shorter range and less maneuverability by staying outside the range of the larger ship. You will want to optimize your equipment for maximum charge rate, range, strategy and damage.

Turrets target independently so you can have a unique target for each turret. This allows strategies like utilizing certain turret types that do more damage to shields, then switching those turrets to the next ship once the current targets shields are down. An example would be using your ion turrets on enemy shields to deplete them and then kinetic, plasma or explosive weapons once that targets shields are down.

Ship loot drops will be similar to the ground based loot drops with various quality tiers and different stats to choose from. Ships also drop cargo so if you want to be a pirate, or are not aligned with a certain faction, you can harass them as much as you want. There will be missions like the mission system in KZ-MR7 with various objectives that can be taken on stations, from other ships in space or from faction agents. Space combat can be profitable and dangerous. Scanning targets will be important because it may not be immediately obvious just how dangerous a ship or group of ships are.

I'm still working on things - elements of the UI may change and I'm balancing systems so what you see here is work in progress.

If you have any questions about combat or what you see in the video, please do post here or on the forums. I'll be happy to answer them. No ETA on the release of space combat at this time though you can see it's fairly far along. I'll be working on loot, vendors and ship merchants next week which need to be in place before the space combat release. I'm also considering adding a first pass mission system for the release of space combat so you have tasks to complete in Achmedius.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Nice, wonder if boarding will be implemented.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Nice, wonder if boarding will be implemented.

Probably not with only 4 person crews.