Stellar Tactics - Beyond Achmedius

[Silver]

The latest update for Stellar Tactics demonstrates how FTL travel works.

Many of you have wondered what is beyond the locked FTL Jump points. In this video, I engaged my FTL drive and explore a little.

Beyond Achmedius

I thought I would record a video that demonstrated how FTL travel works. I didn't take time to edit out loading screens or anything else. Kind of just a straight run through travel, docking, combat etc. Hope you like it.

I should say there is still no ETA on alpha. KZ-MR7 will come first and we are making good progress.

A few things I didn't mention in the video.

• The entire ST universe is available in FTL space - you can fly from one side to the other and star systems, ships, events and objects stream into view dynamically. Loading is only when transitioning from FTL space to systems and from systems to ground exploration areas (stations, bases, ruins, cave systems etc).
• Different areas of space look different. Visual differences are based on the area of space, the type of star, nebula's and a few other factors. I just happened to choose a system with a similar sun in the same area of space.
• New space stations are being build. The stations are modular and should be much better than the stations currently in the game.
• While exploring you will encounter events. They may be distress signals from aligned factions, stations and ground locations.
• You will be able to mark trade routes on your map for future reference. Systems are classified by Industrial, Agricultural, Mining and Consumer goods. Pricing and commodity values will be based on availability and demand.
• Disabling and boarding is a long term goal. It will go in, but not initially. There are over 40 ship types that need interiors modeled.
• Missions can be granted while in space via communication from other ships, remotely as mentioned above via Distress Signals and when on stations - usually in Cantina's and Bars. Most stations also have faction contacts that can send you on missions that award faction rewards and experience.
• Most locations can be explored. However, some stations and locations may be locked. If you are denied docking you will know that a location is reserved for missions or other story content.
• Scanning data can be sold. It has a value. So, while exploring, scan every planetary body in the systems. You get a bonus for complete system scans. You can turn in you scanned data to an agent on most stations.
• Enemy ships that have targeted you will generate a warning. You can choose to outrun your enemies or confront them. If you are flying a slower ship (a trade vessel), it's likely you will be intercepted. Make sure you are armed. The same goes for enemies. If you scan and then target them, they will take that as a hostile action and act accordingly.

More information.

 

[muhabor]

I think it will be awesome. Hope to play it soon

 

[They Live]

I think it will be awesome. Hope to play it soon

+1 i promised myself to wait it a few before clicking on the "buy" button.

When galaxy travel will be implemented i will probably buy this.

 

[SSIGuy]

I hope this turns out well. I think it is literally by just a single guy. RPS did an early access preview and ripped it apart... don't know if they were aware it's a 1 person team. While that shouldn't be an excuse for a bad game, I think you have to take that into account with expectations of what level of game you might get.

 

[mercy]

Combat is still BrainDead. No fun, no gun sounds - those there can't be called more than dawdling mouse sounds, no hit animations. Monsters should roar or something.. This happens, when you lose focus and try to do some galaxy explorery junk too..

 

[mbpopolano24]

No, I 'm sorry, but the one-person show is no excuse for anything. A game must be judged only on its own merits. How and why and when it is developed has nothing to do with the final quality.

I want this game to succeed, the idea is great, but I have seen several videos, on the combat in particular, and right now is not even close to be a decent game. You put a guy standing on the door and all the enemies AI, except one, literally freeze since they cannot find a pathway to attack. Brain-dead is putting it mildly.

It's still alpha so maybe there is still hope, but the RPS early view was spot on.

 

[SSIGuy]

No, I 'm sorry, but the one-person show is no excuse for anything. A game must be judged only on its own merits. How and why and when it is developed has nothing to do with the final quality.

Well, I did say just that in my post:

...that shouldn't be an excuse for a bad game

However, my point was that for me the circumstances under which a video game - or any creative endeavour - is taken on do have an affect on my evaluation and judgment (especially when it is still in process). Context of creation does matter to me - it's not a strictly binary thing for me. I might still judge the game to be not worth my time but I'll weigh the final product against how it was created and perhaps might look at that single, first-time developer and think "good effort even though you came up short for me to play the game". I might then take a closer look at them on a future project.

It takes a helluva an effort to develop a game all alone and it may be this guy's reach is beyond his knowledge at the moment but for me, that context will play a role in how I look at this game and others (if there are others) he tries. I think the RPS article should have mentioned this (maybe it did but I don't remember).

 

[screeg]

It's important to understand what's possible when you're a one-man team. Unless you're superhuman some kind of overhead turn-based combat, probably without animation, would be most practical, or failing that first-person Grimrock style.

 

[Grifman]

Combat is still BrainDead. No fun, no gun sounds - those there can't be called more than dawdling mouse sounds, no hit animations. Monsters should roar or something.. This happens, when you lose focus and try to do some galaxy explorery junk too..

This is what happens when you treat an alpha version as a final game . . .

 

[Darkheart]

I too want this to succeed, since I love the idea behind it. Although, of what I have seen so far it is simply not enjoyable. I will have another look after final release.

Btw, does anybody know what happened to the one-man-army, who developed a Freelancer-like game, where everything was procedural? It had some sick and slick UI ideas. There were regular updates on RPS and he told them he worked on the game almost 24/7. I guess he burned out...

 

[screeg]

If I remembered the name of it, I'd do a Google search and find out, but I don't.

 

[forgottenlor]

Well, I did say just that in my post:

…that shouldn't be an excuse for a bad game

However, my point was that for me the circumstances under which a video game - or any creative endeavour - is taken on do have an affect on my evaluation and judgment (especially when it is still in process). Context of creation does matter to me - it's not a strictly binary thing for me. I might still judge the game to be not worth my time but I'll weigh the final product against how it was created and perhaps might look at that single, first-time developer and think "good effort even though you came up short for me to play the game". I might then take a closer look at them on a future project.

It takes a helluva an effort to develop a game all alone and it may be this guy's reach is beyond his knowledge at the moment but for me, that context will play a role in how I look at this game and others (if there are others) he tries. I think the RPS article should have mentioned this (maybe it did but I don't remember).

Its a hell of an effort, and I've played many games now by one guy or a couple, and I have no problems with mediocre graphics or sound, but the good small team indie games still have good gameplay. Look at Paper Sorcerer, Heroes of a Broken Land, The Dwarf Run, Underrail, Din's Curse, or Unepic. Those all were either completely or for the most part one man projects and were really good games with fun gameplay.

 

[StellarTactics]

Stellar Tactics

Developer of ST here - I'd like to address a few misconceptions listed below.

The game is no longer developed by just one guy. I do have help thanks to the thousands of people who have purchased the game and put their faith in it. Thank you all.

First - I want to address the "No fun" comment - a majority of the people who have actually purchased the game find the game to be quite a bit of fun. My rating is quite high for an indie game -Searching on Google shows the game at 9/10 rating with 115 reviews. And on Steam "Very Positive" overall rating.

For the following, you can see that these comments are just not true at 8-minutes into the video when I land on a station and engage in combat:

• Combat is brain dead - Actually the AI is pretty good, though not perfect yet. AI runs for cover, throws grenades, heals team members, flanks you, makes decisions based on threat level, distance, HP levels, currently equipped weapons and quite a few other variables. There are issues, but this is EA so there is plenty of time to fix them. I'm working on it. Blocking was originally a "strategy" to keep melee enemies blocked in a choke point. I've since learned that many people don't like this as a strategy so I may be changing this eventually.
  
• No gun sounds - that's just not true - every single weapon in the game has multiple sound effect types and they are all top rated audio effects used widely in the game and movie industry. I have never had a single report from anyone that I can recall where weapon sounds were missing or sub-par.
  
• No hit animations - every single character in the game has hit animations. Some are better than others and I have a few marked for improvement.
  
• Enemy hit sound effects - all enemies have hit SFX and variants of those sounds. I've never had anyone complain.

There is no "galaxy explorory" junk right now. Just one available system, numerous missions, at least 10 unique locations - between 8 -20 hours of gameplay and much more on the way. My goal in making the video was to show just how much is really done right now. I'm quite busy filling the universe with content (KZ-MRZ being the first step).

The RPS review - What can I say, he didn't enjoy the game. I was surprised they would even bother to review a pre-alpha, kind of silly…

The game is very stable, quite enjoyable and there is a lot more coming. I update the game regularly, fix issues on a regular basis and communicate with the community daily.

 

[Darkheart]

@StellarTactics
Thank you very much for addressing some of the criticism!
I still find the concept and idea of the game very intersting and will keep a close eye on the game.
There are not enough space RPG/tactics games!

 

[SpoonFULL]

Its a hell of an effort, and I've played many games now by one guy or a couple, and I have no problems with mediocre graphics or sound, but the good small team indie games still have good gameplay. Look at Paper Sorcerer, Heroes of a Broken Land, The Dwarf Run, Underrail, Din's Curse, or Unepic. Those all were either completely or for the most part one man projects and were really good games with fun gameplay.

Adding to the list:
Jeff Vogel games (Geneforge, Avernum, Avadon .. etc.)
Knights of the Chalice

 

[screeg]

UnEpic was really a staggering effort for one guy. Design was so good, it's the only sidescroller I've played since I was a kid.

The RPS review - What can I say, he didn't enjoy the game. I was surprised they would even bother to review a pre-alpha, kind of silly…

I don't even know what RPS does anymore. Half their content is straight filler: reviews of twenty-year-old games, BS opinion pieces, rehashes of their own reviews for the Christmas countdown, and the other half is micro-updates on multi-million-dollar AAA games.

Want to know what's happening with the Division this very minute? RPS has you covered! Rumored bug patch for the Division! Confirmed bug patch for the Division! Here is what the patch will fix! Here's our reaction to the patch!

Then, as was said, random reviews of alpha-stage games. If you have an actual game that you would like them to review? Forget it! They're too busy!