Game News Trigon Space Story turrets out on Steam

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Sernur.tech; Trigon Space Story

A few days late on this, but Trigon Space Story has been released on Steam. It looks like an expanded, more fleshed out FTL, which was a pretty damned good game in and of itself. There's no sale price on this, and it's currently sitting at $19.99US with some mixed reviews. The main criticisms seem to be that there's some bugs and that it's similar to FTL(which I'm guessing is why people bought it, so why bitch?). Anyway, here's some of the official info:

But it’s on you to make the right tactical decisions and capitalize on your crew’s skills—because death is permanent! Only by experimenting with various strategies will you be able to master the challenging combat situations you must face as captain.

The crew remains the heart of your ship; skilfully deployed, they will give you the edge you need to win battles. Assign your crew important tasks and always keep their strengths and weaknesses in mind, so that everything runs like clockwork in your next encounter. Don’t hesitate over moral decisions—space doesn’t forgive mistakes!​

I'm not sure too many people are old enough to remember it, but I'd love it if some of these developers would take a look at SSI's starship CRPG, Star Command from 1988. Some of it's features would make a nice addition to the mechanics people are borrowing from FTL.

Also, there's some gameplay footage of it on ObsidianAnt's channel. He specializes in sci-fi, space games if that's your cup of tea.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Good old Star Command and Stellar Crusade. I never owned Crusade though (i guess i should have ordered via catalog).

Far too few gameplay/reviews much less screenshots and I see no amiga nor ST vids. Boooooooooo!!!

There are other "Star Command" games in name but uh.... ...NO!


Anyway, the video for Trigon makes it appear to be a graphic heavy mobile free to play game. Time to see a vid with actual commentary because this one really looks like a cheap mobile game and we know I've played more than a few of these ad-mobile games thanks to CODEX having ads.

oh yeah, I looked at this before (based on YT history)


so....


Good grief he looks to be right.


RTWP? :/ meh.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Far too few gameplay/reviews much less screenshots and I see no amiga nor ST vids. Boooooooooo!!!

I had the Amiga version. I mainly got it because it was an SSI game and SSI typically was quality stuff. I was fairly dismayed that it was just a straight port from the IBM PC, CGA graphics and all. The Amiga and Atari ST versions of Star Command look exactly like the IBM PC version. So, if there were a video of the Amiga version, you wouldn't be able to tell a difference from the PC version. However, it's one of those games that the gameplay itself will suck you in and I played it and beat it. Damn, I miss SSI. So, honestly, if you're looking to replay or play it for the first time, and you can't find the Amiga version, you might as well just DOSBox the PC one.

Edit: Man, I swear that review video from dfortae is the Amiga version, even though he says it's the PC version. That font looks very much like the Amiga font. It's close, but I think the "y" is different:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/amiga/roadwar-2000/screenshots/gameShotId,43695/

 

[thesheeep]

From the looks and reviews, it just seems to be worse than FTL in almost every regard.
Especially the visual clarity seems lacking - I can't see shit in the gameplay videos, whereas FTL was always very clear.

 

[Modron]

Every FTL inspired game is worse than FTL, the only decent ones so far have probably been what Shortest Trip To Earth and maybe Crying suns to a lesser extent. I guess Halcyon 6 was FTL inspired as well but that's a bit more of a different beast.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Every FTL inspired game is worse than FTL, the only decent ones so far have probably been what Shortest Trip To Earth and maybe Crying suns to a lesser extent. I guess Halcyon 6 was FTL inspired as well but that's a bit more of a different beast.

Galactic Crew 2 is pretty good, but needs some polishing up. I like it because it has away team missions and colony building. It still doesn't quite scratch that Star Command itch, but I got a week or so of play time out of it in early access. The developer is constantly updating things, and still polishing things too.

Then again, I heavily gravitate towards space games these days, so note my bias in what I'm currently playing. Oh, Galactic Crew 2 is also on sale right now for $5.59US.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Every FTL inspired game is worse than FTL, the only decent ones so far have probably been what Shortest Trip To Earth and maybe Crying suns to a lesser extent. I guess Halcyon 6 was FTL inspired as well but that's a bit more of a different beast.

That depends on how one defines "FTL inspired".
If it must be space game with certain type campaign, then you're right, but I would argue that Renowned Explorers is both FTL inspired and also a better game.

 

[ropetight]

This looks like FTL with shiny graphics, and it is not first and probably not the last attempt.
I played Space Rogue (not the classic one) and it was basically 3D FTL; somehow they managed to make gameplay much worse.

Halycyon has very good gameplay, but it is grind fest; Crying Suns was meh.
Star Traders: Frontiers has tons of elements and it is enjoyable, but it has too much procedural generation (simulates living universe with factions and everything) and looks very generic.

Somewhat similar game I enjoyed - Landinar: Into the Void.
Not roguelite per se, more like the top view Elite/Privateer with poly graphics.

It had seamless transition between adventuring on stations (haven't seen any) and ship-to-ship combat.
This was really unique, everything in one system was happening as one piece, just with some camera and zoom change - finish the fight with pirates, dock with station, get out of airlock and navigate the station.
It featured reactive storyline with sidequests (typical trading, mining, bounty hunting), ship customizing (buy the blueprint for the hull, and then make your own placement of the components).
Flying and ship combat could be better, but it had boarding of disabled ships with time ticking core meltdown.
https://landinar.com/

Sadly, studio went down as victims of Steam Indiepocalypse and too big ambition.
Game was left in playable state, but with bugs and lots of features cut.
It never received much needed DLC's and updates, and I actually still hope that they will revive the project.
https://convoy-games.com/blog/2019/06/11/state-of-the-empire-address/

So, still waiting for the great spaceship roguelite/RPG to be more than FLT.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I've got Landinar. I got it when it was first released on Early Access. I played it a bit, but when it first came out, it's was pretty "early access" if you get my drift. I should probably check it out again.

I went and looked up the changes to Galactic Crew 2 since I hadn't played it in a while. Apparently there's ship boarding and taking over ships now. They've also added "advanced classes" that you can eventually spec in to. There's also a new engine for it and the developer(only one guy) is looking to add multiplayer to it, which should be interesting. I'm curious if it'll be multiple people on one ship or if you can have a fleet with friends. The fleet with friends would make ship-to-ship combat with the FTL-like combat an interesting hurdle. It does seem to be moving toward having a lot of the things I liked in Star Command.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

So a lot of space games are going for the real time ship to ship combat using an itchy trigger finger and quick reflexes? The one vid I saw on Landinar said he wished for some Alien Breed combat when running around. Yeah, I could see the double appeal. Is there ship to ship boarding in Landinar?

Anyway, I'd rather see some turn-based strategy ship to ship combat and strategy squad based boarding and exploration. Trigon looks like something you could do on mobile almost.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

So a lot of space games are going for the real time ship to ship combat using an itchy trigger finger and quick reflexes?

FTL was pretty popular. I think that's why you're seeing a lot of these starship centric games using it's style of ship to ship combat over something like a turn based style. FTL's starship combat isn't really that fast paced when most of the ship weapons have a fairly decent recycle time. However, once you add ship boarding, it is a little more fast paced since there's an expectation of how fast gun fights would be and how fast crew members would move.

The one vid I saw on Landinar said he wished for some Alien Breed combat when running around. Yeah, I could see the double appeal.

Isn't Alien Breed a first person shooter? I believe it was on the Amiga. Or was it that arcade game where you had to rescue all the people before you could leave the level? The only way this would work, honestly, is if you controlled one character and it would probably be more like Diablo in Space than the arcade game. A game like that would have it's place, but the appeal for me would probably be in other areas of the game rather than that.

Anyway, I'd rather see some turn-based strategy ship to ship combat and strategy squad based boarding and exploration.

You remember a starship combat game called "Rules of Engagement"? Which could interlock with another game about fighting inside a starship called "Breach"? That was a fairly crazy thing back in the day.

Trigon looks like something you could do on mobile almost.

It does, and you probably can. I watched that one video you posted where the guy says it's just FTL, which could also be done on a phone these days. My biggest con with FTL is that I really wanted the same game with a larger universe and focused on exploration rather than just getting to the other side of the map. There's been several since then that took FTL's ball and ran with it, giving us a bigger experience. I haven't tried them all, but a lot of them end up like Landinar, unfortunately. Never quite getting to their potential before the developers move on for various reasons.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Ah yeah. Breach. I think I had breach 2 boxed set on amiga (from used store). The disks didn't work.

 

[ropetight]

So a lot of space games are going for the real time ship to ship combat using an itchy trigger finger and quick reflexes? The one vid I saw on Landinar said he wished for some Alien Breed combat when running around. Yeah, I could see the double appeal. Is there ship to ship boarding in Landinar?

Anyway, I'd rather see some turn-based strategy ship to ship combat and strategy squad based boarding and exploration. Trigon looks like something you could do on mobile almost.

I think the boarding in Landinar is only happening after you damage and disable the enemy ship, and then you basically hack and salvage what you can before the drive core melts.
Boarding combat was probably one of the features they cut before release.

Stellar Tactics is tacticool RPG in space, but it is in Early Access whole eternity.
Bit rough on eyes, lots of features, TB squad combat, RTwP ship combat.
https://www.stellartactics.com/


As for turn based combat in space games generally, it is not looking good at the moment.
There is a bunch of incoming SF space strategies from publisher Hooded Horse, and all are looking good - one TB (Alliance of the Sacred Suns), others RT or RTwP.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1176470/Terra_Invicta/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1280190/Falling_Frontier
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1113400/Alliance_of_the_Sacred_Suns/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1490930/Capital_Command/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1672320/Fragile_Existence

There are more 4X strategies copying Stellaris than Master of Orion; Distant Worlds 2 is also RTwP.
It is not just cRPGs - multiplayer and ADHD are killing turn based combat in AA and AAA games; small indie studios are still doing TB.
But hopefully tides will turn again.

 

[ropetight]

So a lot of space games are going for the real time ship to ship combat using an itchy trigger finger and quick reflexes?

FTL was pretty popular. I think that's why you're seeing a lot of these starship centric games using it's style of ship to ship combat over something like a turn based style. FTL's starship combat isn't really that fast paced when most of the ship weapons have a fairly decent recycle time. However, once you add ship boarding, it is a little more fast paced since there's an expectation of how fast gun fights would be and how fast crew members would move.

The one vid I saw on Landinar said he wished for some Alien Breed combat when running around. Yeah, I could see the double appeal.

Isn't Alien Breed a first person shooter? I believe it was on the Amiga. Or was it that arcade game where you had to rescue all the people before you could leave the level? The only way this would work, honestly, is if you controlled one character and it would probably be more like Diablo in Space than the arcade game. A game like that would have it's place, but the appeal for me would probably be in other areas of the game rather than that.

Anyway, I'd rather see some turn-based strategy ship to ship combat and strategy squad based boarding and exploration.

You remember a starship combat game called "Rules of Engagement"? Which could interlock with another game about fighting inside a starship called "Breach"? That was a fairly crazy thing back in the day.

Trigon looks like something you could do on mobile almost.

It does, and you probably can. I watched that one video you posted where the guy says it's just FTL, which could also be done on a phone these days. My biggest con with FTL is that I really wanted the same game with a larger universe and focused on exploration rather than just getting to the other side of the map. There's been several since then that took FTL's ball and ran with it, giving us a bigger experience. I haven't tried them all, but a lot of them end up like Landinar, unfortunately. Never quite getting to their potential before the developers move on for various reasons.

Rules of Engagement?
That game was hybrid between Star Trek tactical console and colored Excel Spreadsheet.
Most of people skipped it, I tried it, but it was very cryptic.
One of my friends got hooked on it and played it for months.
You couldn't stop him from talking about it and how it simulates everything.
https://www.mobygames.com/game/rules-of-engagement

 

[newageofpower]

Somewhat similar game I enjoyed - Landinar: Into the Void.

Took a look and I really liked what I saw... very sad it never lived up to it's promise. Shame, I liked their previous game too.