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

[HoboForEternity]

I got this years ago and forgot this is still going on

 

[Aemar]

havent played starfield bet this is going to be the better game when finally cooked in the oven.

The Steam descriptions for both games features somewhat similar content and things you can do. ST has been developed by one man aided by occasional outsourced help, while Starfield by a horde of several thousands. It really makes one wonder if these AAA studios actually need so many people to make a game these days, or do they just need a lesser number of proper devs like Don Wilkins.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Keep in mind that a percentage of modern devs is always spending time in crying rooms, sipping on breastmilk. Gotta rotate em out, thats why you need more total personell.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/465490/view/3708207929380579755

Roadmap to release
Progress update and roadmap to release
Well, Fall is here in the Northern hemisphere and I'm excited to post the remaining development tasks for Stellar Tactics over the next few months. There has been an absolute flurry of activity here on my part preparing content for Chapter 3, delivering on promises I made for a crew mission system and a bunch of QOL adjustments based on player feedback.

Stellar Tactics has been in EA for a long time. I realize for some, this has been annoying. People want to play a final game - right? Others don't mind contributing to the game with ideas, feedback and bug reports. I have a lot to be thankful for in that the community has been incredibly helpful in so many ways.

However, I need to be realistic. By that I mean, development needs a clear and final end point. There are so many great ideas from players and of course I have ideas myself. Unfortunately, not all of these can be realized or I would spend the rest of my life in Early Access. Up to this point, I've been very clear about what I wanted to accomplish, I've had fixed goals, an end point in mind and we are closing in on that vision - finally.

What does this mean? It means I'm going to be focused on the last chapter of the game, final features, a lot of cleanup, stability, tuning and various other bits that should polish the game up nicely in coming months. Here is the roadmap:

As you can see, I have a patch coming in October with a few new features, quality of life improvements and a good number of bug fixes.

The mining system update changes the mining system from a passive to an active process. A few notes and of course more details will come when the patch is release

--You manage the energy of each turret to keep the asteroids temperature in a "sweet spot"
--This "sweet spot" is initially small and expands as you gain levels in the mining skill.
--Below the ideal temperature, you mine less ore.
--Above the ideal temperature, you mine less ore and the asteroid is depleted much faster.
--Asteroids at an ideal mining temperature provide bonus ore.
--Your perks will work as they always have.
--Asteroids can only be targeted by a single turret. You can target multiple turrets to separate asteroids.
--Salvaging derelict ships works as it always has - you can target all turrets at one time

The crew mission system will allow players to assign inactive crew members (crew members not assigned to ground crew or ship stations) to various mission types. Crew members will always receive EXP even if they fail the mission, however, failed missions will reward fewer credits and less experience. An example would be to send a inactive crew member on a rescue mission where they have a chance to gain combat experience in the weapon types they currently have equipped. Over time, crew members rank up and harder missions become available that reward better rewards.

I think the "Advanced settings" will be a welcome addition. Players will be able to tweak many things in their game, including the cost of ships, how much experience you gain for various activities, combat difficulty, and much more. In a sandbox, I believe there is no perfect default setting for everyone. More options are always better. You will be able to reset to defaults at any time.

Fast travel - Really, for me, it cannot be space if there is no time spent...well...traveling. However, so many players have commented that it takes too long to travel in FTL space. So, I've added a way to target a star system, within a certain range of course, and immediately travel to that location. This can only be done in FTL space from point to point. Notice the new icon below the Star System info screen in the upper left. Whether or not you use it is up to you.

That's all I have for now. I'll keep you posted as I get closer to releasing the October update.

 

[Abu Antar]

In other words: play it in 2025.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Bought this ages ago. Will wait for 2025 :]

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/465490/view/3701455448034100360

Updated mining, FTL fast travel, advanced gameplay settings and more...
Lots of smaller updates and fixes in this build as I work towards completing Chapter 3
This update brings the updated mining system, fixes, advanced options and QOL changes.

Updated mining system:

The old mining systems was pretty much click and forget. That's still the case with wrecks, however, asteroid mining has changed. The new system uses "heat". As the turret pulses, the asteroid is heated. You have control over how much power you allocate to your turrets, which in turn controls the ideal temperature of the asteroid.

• You can only target asteroids with a single turret. Attempting to target an asteroid that is being mined will generate an error message in the log.
• Increase power to your turret to quickly heat the asteroid.
• As you approach the ideal temperature, back off a bit on the power until turret pulses remain between the "sweet spot" brackets. The bottom bracket will extend downward as you gain more mining experience making it easier to keep asteroid heat under control.
• Some asteroids are bit more unstable than others and the amount of energy required to maintain ideal temperatures will vary.
• Overheating asteroids will quickly deplete the asteroid and result in lower yields.
• If the asteroid is too cool (temperature below the bottom bracket) less ore is produced.
• You can see the remaining amount of ore left in the asteroid in the circular progress bar. The bar is also color coded - red=too hot, yellow=ideal, blue=temperature too low.

When mining wrecks, you can target all turrets, so, no major changes in salvaging these objects. There are a few changes:

• Reduced the amount of ore produced by wreckage.
• Increased the number of ship repair components harvested.
• Changed the color of the mining turret beam when mining wreckage.

FLT fast travel

You can now choose to fast travel in FTL space. There are two limits:

1. You cannot fast travel to nearby star systems.
2. There is a maximum range for fast travel.

To fast travel, enter FTL space. Choose a target star system by either selecting the star system on the Universe Map, or if a story/mission location, select the mission in the objective tracker.
The upper left panel will display the targeted star system. There will be a new icon that can be selected that will move your ship near the selected system. There is a short delay while universe data is generated when traveling between star systems using the fast travel icon.

Advanced gameplay options

I've added advanced gameplay options to the options menu. These options are only visible when in a loaded game - not at the main menu. These are not global settings and only apply to the save game they are set in. You can reset these advanced settings at any time. All gameplay options now have rollover help.

Adjustments to the advanced options modify the currently selected difficulty. In some cases, you may need to save and reload and/or exit the current mission area and re-enter to see the changes take place.

If any of these options are enabled, the game will stop tracking Achievement progress. Resetting the advanced options to default will re-enable achievement tracking Currently the game is tracking a number of things like enemy deaths, ships destroyed etc. Any progress in existing saves will reward achievements when achievements are enabled later in the roadmap.

GROUND COMBAT:

• Increase/Decrease enemy damage
• Increase/Decrease enemy health
• Enable/Disable enemy missile launchers
• Enable/Disable enemy grenades

SPACE COMBAT:

• Increase/Decrease enemy ship damage
• Increase/Decrease enemy ship shields
• Increase/Decrease enemy ship armor
• Increase/Decrease enemy ship systems (boarding systems)

EXPERIENCE MODIFIERS:

• Increase/Decrease general experience rewarded
• Increase/Decrease space skill experience rewarded
• Increase/Decrease support skill experience rewarded

VENDOR PRICES- Note that any modifiers adjusted are applied after faction and charisma bonuses.

• Increase/Decrease vendor prices for items sold by vendors
• Increase/Decrease vendor purchase prices for loot and gear
• Increase/Decrease ship prices at vendors

QOL Items

• You are now warned if you enter a star system or a ground combat location that is well above your crews average level.
• Date and time have been added to save games. This is not retroactive and only new saves will register the date and time.
• Sorting options have been added to the cargo hold column headers.
• Repairing equipment only requires a single click now and will repair items as long as repair components are in your inventory.
• Increased ship repair components rewarded when mining wreckage. The number of components harvested are not displayed in the log.

Things that didn't make it
Crew missions did not make it into this build. This system needs more time in the oven before I can release it. I'll get this done as soon as I can and release a patch when it's ready.

Added: When on the FTL map, you can now fast travel to star systems within a certain range. If fast travel is available for the selected star system, a new icon is displayed to the right of the "APPROACH/ENTER SYSTEM" icon under the selected star system panel in the upper left of the screen. This allows players to move quickly through FTL space to story mission locations and other star systems. Whether or not you use it is up to you. Azimuth does not recharge in FTL space when fast traveling. Piloting experience is not granted when fast traveling. (See piloting EXP below)
Added: Date and time added to load/save interface. This is not a retroactive fix. Saves that have no date/time data associated will display the date as "---".
Added: You can now sort alphabetically, by value and quantity on the ship cargo screen [K] by selecting the column headings.
Added: If you unintentionally stray into a star system that is above your average crew level, a message is displayed to the screen and your log letting you know you will be annihilated forthwith.

Updated: Repairing equipment now requires a single click and will automatically complete the repair process for the selected item if enough materials are available for the repair.
Updated: Jump point models.
Updated: NPC ship navigation updated for better collision avoidance with planets and other objects. They will now prioritize avoidance with planets adjusting course as necessary.
Updated: NPC ships are less likely to ram you in space combat.
Updated: Piloting EXP is no longer earned by entering or leaving FTL space. Instead it is calculated by distance traveled over time both in star systems and on the FTL map. Piloting EXP rewarded from space combat has not changed.
Updated: Increased overall ship repair components when mining ship wreckage.
Updated: Asteroid mining now uses "heat" to determine yield of asteroids. Keeping the asteroids heat levels within acceptable tolerances increases the yield of asteroids. If the asteroid is cool (below the bottom bracket) less ore is generated. If the asteroid is too hot (above the upper bracket), the yield is lowered and the asteroid is destroyed faster.
Updated: Only one turret can be targeted to an asteroid now with the changes to the heat system. You can mine multiple asteroids at the same type by selecting the turret and targeting asteroids. If an asteroid is already being mined by a turret, a message is displayed to the screen that the asteroid cannot be mined by more than one mining turret.
--If you are too aggressive with heating, asteroids can get in a state where they are very hard to cool. You may need to stop mining the asteroid and let it cool down.
Updated: Reduced overall ore yield when mining ship wreckage. Note that you can target all mining turrets to wreckage.
Updated: Changed beam color to blue when mining ship wreckage.
Updated: When awarded ship repair components, the number of components rewarded is now displayed in the log.
Updated: If your ship is not moving, you will take additional damage in space combat. Some ships may be able to tank this additional damage if they have excellent shields and armor equipped.
Updated: Reduced general EXP gain from space combat applied to crew in ship station slots.

Fixed: The in-game guide is now accessible in the middle of space combat and will pause the game. This also applies if space combat is currently paused with the [P} key.
Fixed: Collisions with objects in FTL space and in star systems now return control to player much faster.
Fixed: When loading a save game in a star system, NPC ships could spawn in the center of the sun.
Fixed: In some cases, mining beams were not displayed when mining ship wrecks.
Fixed: In some rare cases, it was possible to spawn in the wrong universe position when first launching your ship from the planets surface.
Fixed: If stun immunity through Azimuth was active, and NPC's used stun grenades, crew members were partially stunned leading to various UI elements not working as intended.
Fixed: Initial ground exploration camera rotation values could be set to zero, locking the camera from rotating in new playthroughs. This required players manually set the camera rotation value in the gameplay options menu.
Fixed: Incorrect display of pooled experience toggle in options menu selection box.
Fixed: Crew member in ship repair slot was not receiving general experience from space combat.
Fixed: Crew member combat state was not completely cleared after combat in rare cases resulting in various errors. Most visible was that crew member was stuck in combat idle stance with no weapon in hands.

There will be bugs. Please, if you see anything - post a bug report here - > https://steamcommunity.com/app/465490/discussions/7/

Thats all I have for now. I'll keep an eye on the forums and address any issues that pop up. Thanks as always for supporting Stellar Tactics!

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/465490/discussions/0/3955910653937984429/

Patch incoming - 11/14/22
A few fixes for various issues reported recently.

Version 0.722b

Fixed: Cargo volume on the "Ship" screen was not displayed correctly when various sorting filters were applied.

Fixed: Ship equipment on the "Ship" screen did not display the correct quality indicators in the cargo list.

Fixed: If you had very high skill in mining, and perks selected (ining speed), it was possible that you could depleted an asteroid before fully heating the asteroid. I adjusted the minimum bracket scaling to compensate for this.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/465490/view/3886108111271905696

Faster load times, Dark Space, fixes and updates.
A few updates and fixes in this build as I work towards completing Chapter 3
I'm posting a few fixes and updates in todays patch before I lock everything down and start integrating the chapter 3 content. I've completed all assets for the new content update and it's time to put everything together.

This update adds pre-caching for all space content. You will notice that resources are being loaded when the game launches. This means a longer load to the main menu of the game, however, load times to space while in the game with be much faster. I also did a bit of work on load times for transitions between ground locations and will continue to work on this.

You will also find a new "Dark Space" option on the video options screen. This will set a single high resolution sky throughout the game. I felt this was a good option for players who would prefer a more realistic experience when fly through space. If you enable this at the main menu, loading a save will apply the new setting. If already in the game and in space, you will need to save and reload to see the changes.

Join Bumpy McSquigums as he streams Stellar Tactics live on the store page over the holidays. Here is the full schedule:

All streams will start at 2PM EST and last 2 hours assuming no technical issues.
December 21
December 22
December 23
December 27
December 28

As always, thank you for supporting Stellar Tactics.

Notes for this patch:
UPDATED: The game now pre-caches content when first loading the game. This results in transitions from ground to space loading much faster than before. Your mileage may vary.
UPDATED: Improvements in loading speed between ground mission areas.
UPDATED: Using the character info, inventory, log, and ship UI now pauses the game while in space.
UPDATED: Asteroid fields indicated by [AF] in the star system object list on the star map and in space are now named "Asteroid Field [AF]". [AF] wasn't good enough.
ADDED: The video options screen now has an option for "Dark Space". This will set a single space material taken from public domain imagery of the Milky Way galaxy. I'm adding this for those of you who would prefer a more realistic space background. When enabling this option, you will need to exit and launch the game again for the option to take effect.
FIXED - Raider base story location - lighting and transition from last level to previous level location.
FIXED - Crew members would occasionally spawn above floor level in some areas.
FIXED - Map zoom in/out now matches the environment zoom mouse wheel settings. In - mouse wheel forward. Out - mouse wheel back.
FIXED - Disabling autosaves from the options menu was not functioning as expected.
FIXED - In a few instances, NPC's turned hostile could end up invisible. For example, Lazlo Eklund.
FIXED - Crew members equipped with armor, weapons, devices, and shields cannot be dismissed. You must remove all gear from a crew member before dismissing them in the crew manager. This resolves a problem where the crew could be dismissed, destroying story-critical devices like the Aznari Scanner and Psionic Amplifier.
FIXED - Missing planetary description info when targeting Coven base during story content mission.
FIXED - Ship pitch control would invert when flying in certain directions while using the keyboard controls. Tuned keyboard controls so they are more responsive.
FIXED - A bug that would fail to display planetary mining node scan data.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/465490/discussions/0/4035854645863014525/

Patch incoming - 1/9/24
A bunch of changes today. Some may be relieved to see a new option in the gameplay menu that will revert mining to the old system if you prefer the original mining system.

VERSION 0.724

ADDED: A new option ( "SIMPLE MINING" )is available in the gameplay options menu if you prefer the original mining system.
UPDATED: You can now press "ESC" to exit the ore refinery.
UPDATED: Added a label to the ore refinery that explains that once you start the ore refinery, you can exit the screen and refining will continue in the background. Ore refining can take place anywhere, even when exploring ground locations - as long as you have ore to refine.
UPDATED: Camera cursor edge scrolling is disabled by default. You can set the option in the options menu. If you had already set the option on or have an existing game, edge scrolling should still be enabled.
FIXED: A bug related to autosaves overwriting options settings.
FIXED: An incorrect options save parameter for the new dark space option.
FIXED: In rare cases, faction agents were not accepting completed missions.
FIXED: Faction agents could offer multiple missions in rare cases if players very quickly clicked and asked for a new mission while the originally accepted mission was still processing acceptance. This would break the agent.
FIXED: Selecting a completed faction agent mission in the objectives list would, on occasion, not select the target location when returning to the faction agent when in the return star system.
FIXED: Reduced volume of NPC ship FTL jump sound effects.
FIXED: Mission prompts and incursion requests should no longer interrupt various tutorials.
FIXED: If a med-kit is enabled when entering inventory or other menu's - the med-kit is disabled and the default cursor is restored.
FIXED: Ship speed in FTL space was being reduced/interrupted when setting a new course or selecting a new target.
FIXED: When approaching a ship in FTL space, your ships speed is reduced to match the targeted ship when you are close to the targeted ship.
FIXED: Enemy ships in FTL space cannot be attacked using the attack ship key bind.
FIXED: Many small consistency issues with UI elements.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Is this ever gonna be finished?

 

[Aemar]

Yes, and definitely earlier than Scam Citizen.

 

[Takamori]

What comes out first Stoneshard char creator or this game release?

 

[Modron]

Stellar Tactics unless they really scope down Stoneshard, current in game map says it's only about 33% of planned locations.

 

[Mortmal]

Is this ever gonna be finished?

More importantly, will it ever be fun? I can hardly remember a more repetitive game. I had enough while scanning the ruins, already having to endure endless fights with zero tactical depth again and again in uninspired randomly generated environments.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/465490/view/4187861330565972560

Progress update
I'm still here...
First the facts since I’ve seen a few comments:

• This game is not abandoned! It will never be abandoned.
• I’m running late with chapter 3 and all milestones I’ve set following that.
• The last patch was 2/9/24 – a hotfix. I generally do not post minor patch updates on the main Steam page.

You can always find the latest patch notes here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/465490/discussions/0/343787283753661833/

I’ve struggled a bit with whether I should share this as I generally do not talk about my family. I do think it’s important to be transparent, so here it is.

My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in January. I’m sure some of you know how this goes. Endless tests, MRI, PET scan, samples, and doctors office visits. She is half way through the first cycle of chemo and doing well. We were lucky that we found it early as the prognosis is excellent. My heart goes out to anyone who has or has had this disease and their loved ones – or any form of cancer for that matter. It’s terrifying!

My time has been very limited since February, and I have not been making the progress I expected. I am working on the game. However, my wife takes priority, and it’s been a bit difficult staying focused. Around the middle of April, I started working at nearly my normal pace. All of the locations, enemies, enemy ships, modeling and other assets for chapter 3 are complete now. I’ve finished about 1/3 of the dialog, and when that’s done I’ll start integrating everything.

Right now I’m considering just finishing everything on my list and releasing chapter 3 and all other planned content/features in one major patch as a full BETA, rather than mini-releases over the coming months. It will save time and I won’t need to pause for bug fixes between updates. As I do this work, I’ll try to post progress updates more often. I get it, if you don’t hear from me on a regular basis – some might assume I’ve abandoned my game. Not going to happen…

I'm not posting this looking for well wishes or sympathy. Really, I'm convinced she will be fine. It's a difficult treatment though, and I need to be present and supportive. I am asking you to be patient with me as I work through the rest of this content. It will get done - I'm on it.

Thanks as always for your support and have a great weekend!

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/465490/view/6122166977341866354

Progress update
Working towards BETA
Hi all! A quick update today. First, thank you all very much for the kind notes in my previous post. It means a lot to us. My wife is doing well. The first series of chemo is complete and surgery was successful. She will still be going through post operative radiation and chemotherapy over the coming months. She responded very well to the treatment up to this point.

Work is getting done on chapter 3 and a number of other things that I need to do to get ready for a full BETA. Here is a quick summary:

Chapter 3 – of course.

Crew missions
– These missions will let you send idle crew members on various tasks that reward general and skill experience for that crew member and rewards like credits, weapons, armor, ship equipment etc. The rewards depend on the type of mission the crew member is sent on. I’ll explain how this works in detail once the system is finished.

Updated crew portraits.

Player generated portraits
– I’ve finished work on loading player generated portraits. That means, you will be able to add any images you want (512x512 JPG’s) and they will load into the game for selection using the inventory or character information screen portrait/voice selection screen.

New icons for general inventory items.
The new icons are simplified and made so you can easily distinguish between various items like weapons, armor, mods and grenade types. I’m also looking at ways to generate icons for the rest of the content like component parts, trade items, ore, refined ore etc. There are lot of icons in the game so I may not be able to create unique icons for everything – though most icons in the game will get a treatment of some sort.

New enemies.

New enemy ships.

Updates to the economy.

Assigned stats will affect space skills.

New devices for your ship
– equipped to your hardware mount points. These will let you apply various de-buffs to enemy ships via the security bonuses and security perks in the electronics skill line.

Various bug fixes – as always.

Patrolling enemies are out – To be clear – patrolling enemies are terrible. I wasted almost a month trying to get this to work and really, when it comes down to it, it’s just an annoyance. There is already a chance that wandering into the line of sight of another enemy group could trigger “adds” to the current combat session. Add to this with patrolling enemies and it's just not sustainable. So, this is scrapped. I wish I could get my time back…but that’s the way game development works – you try something and it just doesn’t work.

I don’t have a release date for BETA at the moment as my schedule is still variable. However, I wanted to let you know that progress is being made.

I hope you all have a great weekend, and thank you for supporting Stellar Tactics!

 

[MjKorz]

This game has been sitting in my Steam wishlist since forever since I usually don't buy unfinished games. Does it have enough content for something like a 60 hours playthrough?

 

[Abu Antar]

I have on GOG early access. I'd say wait some more.

 

[Cyberarmy]

This game has been sitting in my Steam wishlist since forever since I usually don't buy unfinished games. Does it have enough content for something like a 60 hours playthrough?

I played it last year and it become repetitive after 20 hours.

 

[n0wh3r3]

It's on sale. To get it or not to get it?

 

[ropetight]

It's on sale. To get it or not to get it?

It is indie solodev jank, but there is still nothing that combines tacticool cRPG with space sim like Stellar Tactics does.