The latest Soldak blog talks about the possibility of a Drox Operative 2.

Drox Operative 2?

For those of you that follow us on social media or our forums this isn't a surprise, but I've started working on the design of what will probably end up being Drox Operative 2. I say probably because to me design is kind of an exploration and you aren't completely sure where you will end up. I'm pretty sure it will end up being Drox Operative 2, but Din's Legacy was originally going to be a mutating, permadeath, generational character type of game. The mutations is the only part that stuck (the rest just didn't work well enough with the mutation system).

Currently, and this all could easily change, I have 3 focuses to make this game better than the first Drox Operative.

1) Combat/action: I'm looking to make the moment to moment side of things a bit more fun. This will probably mean things like faster acceleration, faster turning, and maybe even strafing to make movement and dodging a bit more fun and important. Weapons might be more powerful, but rely less on auto-aiming. I'll probably also try to see how real momentum makes things feel.

2) Graphics: I'll at least be getting it up to Din's Legacy tech wise: VBOs, normal mapping, better shadows, and better lighting. Just doing this would make the game look a good bit better than the first game. It might even go faster and Drox was our most CPU friendly game.

3) More detailed systems to add more depth to the exploration, gameplay, and interactions between everything. By this I mean things like a planet could be rich in minerals. After discovering this planet, selling this information to a race might be very profitable, it could greatly help that race build fleets of ships once colonized, and it could also be a weak point for sneaky Operatives to disrupt or even destroy.

Again these are things that I'm thinking about now, but could easily change. Also these are just a small glimpse of the ideas I'm already thinking about. Finally I would like to stress this part, comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Thanks Couchpotato!

Drox Operative is 75% off on Steam until 10th September. The DLC 'Invasion of the Ancients' is also 75% off.

Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows and Mac.

Eons ago the Drox ruled the galaxy through their mighty Operatives. These elite starship captains were trained to accomplish the impossible at whatever cost necessary. Whether employing stealth or brute force, they were always deadly. Using these Operatives, the Drox built a starlane system for quick travel amongst the stars, colonized and conquered millions of planets, and ruled the galaxy with an iron grip for over 100,000 years. Eventually realizing their Operatives were a threat, they attempted to assassinate all of them. They failed. The following Galactic Civil War was devastating.

Thousands of years later, the Drox are extinct, but the secretive Drox Operative guild lives on. They have learned their lesson though: loyalty to any one race is foolish. They now work for whoever can pay. And pay they do! Empires might span hundreds of planets and thousands of ships, but when a critical task arises, they still turn to an Operative.

In the new space race, the major races are scouting, colonizing, and expanding, trying to take over the galaxy by diplomacy, technology, war, or any other means their scheming minds can contemplate.

As a Drox Operative it's NOT your job to manage all of those annoying people, build thousands of buildings, play nice with your enemies, or balance the budget. It IS your job to pick the winning side and maybe even help them conquer the galaxy if you're being nice, more importantly though is to rake in as many credits as possible, well that and build the coolest, deadliest ship in the known universe. Not many screw with an Operative captaining a Dreadnaught!

• Explore a dynamic and evolving galaxy
• Explore a unique sector of the galaxy in every game, with different "monsters", ship components, quests, and even races
• Fight in the galactic war between the various alien races
• Battle hundreds of different enemy starships
• Build the coolest and deadliest starship in the galaxy
• Outfit your ship with thousands of components and crew
• Adventure with your friends with co-op multiplayer

Drox Operative and its expansion are 75% off on Steam this week. The offer ends 2nd May.

Thanks to Steven Peeler of Soldak Entertainment for providing them and Couchpotato for arranging them, we can give you another set of keys, which this time is for Drox Operative:

Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Eons ago the Drox ruled the galaxy through their mighty Operatives. These elite starship captains were trained to accomplish the impossible at whatever cost necessary. Whether employing stealth or brute force, they were always deadly. Using these Operatives, the Drox built a starlane system for quick travel amongst the stars, colonized and conquered millions of planets, and ruled the galaxy with an iron grip for over 100,000 years. Eventually realizing their Operatives were a threat, they attempted to assassinate all of them. They failed. The following Galactic Civil War was devastating.

Now time for the rules.

1. New registrations are not eligible to win.
2. You must have over 30 posts on the Forum.
3. Just post a comment you are interested in winning the game.

We will randomly pick the winners om Monday, May 25th.

Soldak Entertainment has sent news that patch 1.042 is now available for Drox Operative, and it's expansion Invasion of the Ancients. Here is the change log.

Since the last official patch, the patch makes the 3 monster races power more inline with the other races, makes sure Drox Guild quests are more doable, and fixes a few other minor issues.

After the Linux demo of Drox operative, the game itself is available now as well.

Dallas, Texas, April 2, 2014 - Soldak Entertainment today announced the availability of Drox Operative for Linux!

Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Drox Operative can be purchased at:
http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/Buy.html

Or try the demo at:
http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/demo.html

Eons ago the Drox ruled the galaxy through their mighty Operatives. These elite starship captains were trained to accomplish the impossible at whatever cost necessary. Whether employing stealth or brute force, they were always deadly. Using these Operatives, the Drox built a starlane system for quick travel amongst the stars, colonized and conquered millions of planets, and ruled the galaxy with an iron grip for over 100,000 years. Eventually realizing their Operatives were a threat, they attempted to assassinate all of them. They failed. The following Galactic Civil War was devastating.

Thousands of years later, the Drox are extinct, but the secretive Drox Operative guild lives on. They have learned their lesson though: loyalty to any one race is foolish. They now work for whoever can pay. And pay they do! Empires might span hundreds of planets and thousands of ships, but when a critical task arises, they still turn to an Operative.

In the new space race, the major races are scouting, colonizing, and expanding, trying to take over the galaxy by diplomacy, technology, war, or any other means their scheming minds can contemplate.

As a Drox Operative it's NOT your job to manage all of those annoying people, build thousands of buildings, play nice with your enemies, or balance the budget. It IS your job to pick the winning side and maybe even help them conquer the galaxy if you're being nice, more importantly though is to rake in as many credits as possible, well that and build the coolest, deadliest ship in the known universe. Not many screw with an Operative captaining a Dreadnaught!

Features:

Explore a dynamic and evolving galaxy
Explore a unique sector of the galaxy in every game, with different "monsters", ship components, quests, and even races
Fight in the galactic war between the various alien races
Battle hundreds of different enemy starships
Build the coolest and deadliest starship in the galaxy
Outfit your ship with thousands of components and crew
Adventure with your friends with co-op multiplayer

You can go to http://www.soldak.com for more information about Drox Operative and Soldak Entertainment.

Soldak Entertainment sent news by email about a linux demo of Drox Operative.

Dallas, Texas, March 13, 2014 - Soldak Entertainment today announced the availability of the Drox Operative demo for Linux!
http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/demo.html

Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Eons ago the Drox ruled the galaxy through their mighty Operatives. These elite starship captains were trained to accomplish the impossible at whatever cost necessary. Whether employing stealth or brute force, they were always deadly. Using these Operatives, the Drox built a starlane system for quick travel amongst the stars, colonized and conquered millions of planets, and ruled the galaxy with an iron grip for over 100,000 years. Eventually realizing their Operatives were a threat, they attempted to assassinate all of them. They failed. The following Galactic Civil War was devastating.

Thousands of years later, the Drox are extinct, but the secretive Drox Operative guild lives on. They have learned their lesson though: loyalty to any one race is foolish. They now work for whoever can pay. And pay they do! Empires might span hundreds of planets and thousands of ships, but when a critical task arises, they still turn to an Operative.

In the new space race, the major races are scouting, colonizing, and expanding, trying to take over the galaxy by diplomacy, technology, war, or any other means their scheming minds can contemplate.

As a Drox Operative it's NOT your job to manage all of those annoying people, build thousands of buildings, play nice with your enemies, or balance the budget. It IS your job to pick the winning side and maybe even help them conquer the galaxy if you're being nice, more importantly though is to rake in as many credits as possible, well that and build the coolest, deadliest ship in the known universe. Not many screw with an Operative captaining a Dreadnaught!

Features:

Explore a dynamic and evolving galaxy
Explore a unique sector of the galaxy in every game, with different "monsters", ship components, quests, and even races
Fight in the galactic war between the various alien races
Battle hundreds of different enemy starships
Build the coolest and deadliest starship in the galaxy
Outfit your ship with thousands of components and crew
Adventure with your friends with co-op multiplayer (only in full game)

The demo for Drox Operative is only around 120MB, so there’s no reason not to give it a try. The demo can be downloaded from:
http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/demo.html

You can go to http://www.soldak.com for more information about Drox Operative and Soldak Entertainment.

About Soldak Entertainment, Inc.

Soldak Entertainment, Inc. is a small independent developer, focused on bringing new and unique gameplay to the entertainment industry. Soldak was founded by Steven Peeler. Before embarking on his own in late 2004 to create Depths of Peril, he was Technical Director of Ritual Entertainment.

Invasion of the Ancients the expansion for Drox Operative is now available on Steam.

Drox Operative: Invasion of the Ancients is the first expansion for Drox Operative. Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows and Mac.

Before the Drox ruled the galaxy, before they were even sentient, there were older races now known as the Ancients. Using their Operatives, the Drox crushed and enslaved most of these races. The rest fled known space. When the Drox turned on their own Operatives, the Drox were utterly destroyed. Newer races emerged and thrived in the power void, never knowing the menace waited. Seizing their chance, the Ancients are invading to take their rightful place in the galaxy, as rulers! Thirsting for revenge, the Ancients can't harm the extinct Drox, but they can crush the next best thing, the Drox Operatives.

The Ancient enemies are back! Can you defend the Drox Operative Guild and younger races against the Invasion of the Ancients?

Soldak Entertainment sent some news by e-mail for Drox Operative.

For those that are following our latest action RPG, Drox Operative, we have another update for you.

Drox Operative is now on Steam and is 50% during the launch week!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/274480/

We also have  four new reviews of our expansion Invasion of the Ancients:

1. Twinfinite

2. Two Dash Stash

3. Technology Tell

4. Randomn PC

Soldak Entertainment has sent news that patch 1.034 is now available for Drox Operative, and it's expansion Invasion of the Ancients. Here is the change log to view what has been updated and changed.

Drox Operative can be had with a discount of 50% during the holidays and you can get it from the Soldak site.

Soldak Entertainment sent us news of two new trailers for Drox Operative and it's expansion Invasion of the Ancients.

Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows and Mac.

Drox Operative: Invasion of the Ancients is the first expansion for the unique action RPG Drox Operative. Adds ancient invasions, space stations, persistent galaxies, Scavenger race, new Talon, Legion, and Overlord monsters, 19 playable subraces, and much more.

Soldak Entertainment has sent news that patch 1.032 is now available for Drox Operative, and it's expansion Invasion of the Ancients . Here is the change log to view what has been updated and changed.

Soldak Entertainment has sent news that patch 1.030 is now available for Drox Operative. Here is the change log to view what has been updated and changed.

Soldak Entertainment has sent news that the webpage for the expansion Drox Operative:Invasion of the Ancients has new information about three new monsters.

For those that are following our latest action RPG, Drox Operative, we have another update for you.

We revealed 3 monsters today, the Thunder, the Nemato, and the Doom from our upcoming expansion, Invasion of the Ancients, at http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/Monsters.html

Soldak Entertainment has sent news that patch 1.029 is now available for Drox Operative. Here is the change log to view what has been updated and changed.

Soldak Entertainment has sent news that patch 1.028 is now available for Drox Operative. Here is the change log to view what has been updated and changed.

Soldak Entertainment has once again sent news that a new patch is now available for Drox Operative. Here is the change log to view what has been updated and changed.

GameBanshee has posted a new preview of Soldak Entertainment's upcoming Drox Operative Expansion: Invasion of the Ancients.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Invasion of the Ancients just as I did with the base Drox Operative game. But, I'm not sure that has a lot to do with the new content, or simply because it's been some time since I last played the game. To be sure, the new additions are nice, but it's worth repeating that this expansion is very much a traditional add-on rather than something that is going to completely overhaul the game.

I must admit, I was slightly disappointed that some existing issues from Drox Operative still existed. For example, the marriage of a 4X game and an action-RPG is still novel, but sometimes I found that I would completely missed out on certain events simply because I was busy fighting enemies at the time, and then had no good way to refer to what I'd missed. The user interface is also a little rough, still, and I find myself missing some convenience features at times, like the ability to choose to sell all information or technology to a race with a single click. These are the kinds of things an expansion could have smoothed out a bit, but such changes are nowhere to be seen in Invasion of the Ancients.

Again, as these impressions are based on a preview build, there's a very real chance that some of my issues, most notably with the somewhat underwhelming invasion feature, will be improved upon. Indeed, Soldak made major changes to Drox Operative during the time I was previewing the original game, including new victory conditions, so there's no reason to expect they won't be taking player feedback into account this time.

For those who are still playing Drox Operative and still want more of it, Invasion of the Ancients is a safe buy - and at $10 USD, it's very affordable (though, it's worth noting, half the price of the base game itself). Ultimately, Invasion of the Ancients gave me a chance to go back and put a few dozen more hours into Drox Operative and see some new things along the way, and it's hard to complain too much about that. Those who want more dramatic changes to Drox Operative, though, may want to wait and see how this expansion develops over the next few months.

Soldak Entertainment sent news that patch 1.026 for Drox Operative , and the expansion Invasion of the Ancients is now available. Here is the change log to view what has been updated and changed.

Soldak Entertainment has sent news about a new update for the games expansion Invasion of the Ancients.

For those that are following our latest action RPG, Drox Operative, we have another update for you.

We revealed 3 monsters today, the Disruptor, the Cesto, and the Peacekeeper from our upcoming expansion, Invasion of the Ancients.

Soldak sent news that patch 1.025 for Drox Operative , and the expansion Invasion of the Ancients is now available. Here is the change log to view what has been updated and changed.

Soldak has released a new patch for Drox Operative and the expansion Invasion of the Ancients bringing the game to version 1.024. Here is the change log to view what has been updated and changed.

Soldak has released a new patch for Drox Operative and the expansion Invasion of the Ancients bringing the game to version 1.0.18.

Here is the list of changes:

1.018
-----

• added destroy X enemy stations war quest (IotA)
• added destroy specific station war quest (IotA)
• added destroy specific building station war quest (IotA)
• now monster space stations go through building stages (IotA)
• split monster space stations into missile, beam, ballastics, and fighter versions (IotA)
• increased chances of station quests (IotA)
• if a race solves a quest they no longer get weak race or long distance bonuses (leader reinforcement issue)
• Shadow now have a penalty on credits and minerals production to balance their stealth
• races now only get half reward for completing quests for other races
• now clear enemies better on a newly colonized planet (Tuidjy/CaptainWinky)
• fixed races sending more than 1 bounty hunter at a time (ScrObot)
• now if a race splits into 2, the new race gets credits depending on percentage of planets taken
• can no longer get orders to kill and save the same race (Steve)
• fixed conflicting alliance/war Drox orders (Cardinal Ape) (IotA)
• added marine usage to marine text (Steve) (IotA)
• no longer show last galaxy in galaxy list twice (IotA)
• now old galaxies are listed in a way that is more obvious what they are (IotA)
• using consumables on NPCs now checks player's level instead of NPC's (Tuidjy)
• can no longer try to increase durability of unbreakable components (Yindo)
• population growth should now handle small numbers better (Tuidjy)
• now value structure repair/armor repair on scavenger components (IotA)
• scavenger components now compare better (Steve) (IotA)
• fixed not showing correct race specific slots when looking at another player's inventory (Cardinal Ape)
• mineable asteroids now rotate some
• can now have more than 1 monster space station quest at a time (IotA)
• changed PROTOCOL_VERSION to 21
• decreased selection size for monster space stations (IotA)

Soldak has released a new patch for Drox Operative and the expansion Invasion of the Ancients bringing them to version 1.0.17.

Here is the list of changes:

• races can now build stations near starlane/wormholes (IotA)
• now quests give extra credits, xp, and relations boosts the more systems away the goal is from the originator
• fixed secondary item text not following your price comparison choice (Steve)
• fixed auto equip not following your price comparison choice
• fixed scavenger custom order or things like energy leechers (Tuidjy)
• fixed giving alliance/war Drox rewards more than once (CaptainWinky) (IotA)
• nearby stations now count as guards for planets (IotA)
• increased BaseThrust from 50 to 55
• fixed a few problems when transferring a quest when a planet is destroyed (Cockbite)
• now cap scavenged components to 5 levels above planet level
• fixed a couple issues with marine levels (Tuidjy) (IotA)
• increased scavenge cost by 25%
• changed PROTOCOL_VERSION to 20
• fixed a problem where some races were getting marked as eliminated sometimes when player won the game (IotA)
• race ships now use a better approximation of hull and engine values so a destroyed engine or a better researched engine make a difference
• made galaxy selection UI widget larger (IotA)
• fixed a crash when you have a drop down box selected and use the debug console command reloadmenus
• reworked the extended characters in font so they all match correctly
• reworked lose game menu to look better
• added ancient specific explosion to ancient ships (IotA)
• can no longer drop marines that are current boarding another ship (wrestless) (IotA)
• added some text to galaxy highlight to explain a little about what the persistent galaxy stuff does (Steve) (IotA)
• fixed a mutiny quest typo (Yindo)
• fixed some MIRV capitalization issues (Valgor) (IotA)
• reworded some galaxy selection stuff to make a little more clear (IotA)
• fixed no orders to start a war text (Steve) (IotA)
• improved can't board warning (wrestless) (IotA)

Soldak Entertainment sent a press release that announces that Drox Operative: Invasion of the Ancients is now available for pre-order.

Dallas, Texas, July 9, 2013 - Pre-orders of Drox Operative: Invasion of the Ancients expansion are now available (Windows & Mac) at http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/Invasion-of-the-Ancients.html

Gamers who pre-order the expansion will receive full access to the latest beta build, a reduced pre-order price of only $8.99, the opportunity to give Soldak feedback on our forums which can influence the game, and of course, the final version when it becomes available.

Drox Operative: Invasion of the Ancients is the first expansion for Drox Operative. Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows and Mac.

Before the Drox ruled the galaxy, before they were even sentient, there were older races now known as the Ancients. Using their Operatives, the Drox crushed and enslaved most of these races. The rest fled known space. When the Drox turned on their own Operatives, the Drox were utterly destroyed. Newer races emerged and thrived in the power void, never knowing the menace waited. Seizing their chance, the Ancients are invading to take their rightful place in the galaxy, as rulers! Thirsting for revenge, the Ancients can't harm the extinct Drox, but they can crush the next best thing, the Drox Operatives.

The Ancient enemies are back! Can you defend the Drox Operative Guild and younger races against the Invasion of the Ancients?

For more information about Drox Operative, head over to http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/Overview.html

Features:

* Defend against ancient race invasions
* Destroy or defend space stations (military and production)
* Guide the evolution of persistent galaxies
* Design components with socketable chips
* Play as or against the new race, the Scavenger
* Battle new Talon, Legion, and Overlord monsters
* Solve new quests and equip new components

About Soldak Entertainment, Inc.

Soldak Entertainment, Inc. is a small independent developer, focused on creating unique gameplay. Soldak was founded by Steven Peeler, a former Technical Director of Ritual Entertainment. Din's Curse is the third Soldak game, joining Depths of Peril and Kivi's Underworld.

Beta patch 1.012 of Drox Operative brings us fixes for some diplomacy loopholes, balances things better, and fixes a ton of smaller things according to Soldak.

A complete list of changes can be found on their site.

Soldak Entertainment released details about the Scavenger one of the races that will be in the next expansion.

Scavenger (Invasion of the Ancients expansion)

Danger Level: Very High

A mixer of vehicle components, scavengers adapted both mechanical and biological tech as solutions for advancement. Natural evolution led to incorporating any leftover debris after battles, including other races' ship corpses and technological abilities. Profiting from the demise of others was business as usual, but other races thought it an abhorrent practice and despised the scavengers for it. The scavengers enjoy a period of great advancement and wealth during wartime, which explains many other races' fear and hesitancy to engage this voracious enemy.

Traits: Scavenger and Reverse Engineering

 

Soldak Entertainment announces the first expansion pack called Drox Operative: Invasion of the Ancients for Drox Operative.

Drox Operative: Invasion of the Ancients, the first expansion for Drox Operative, is almost here! Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows and Mac.

Before the Drox ruled the galaxy, before they were even sentient, there were older races now known as the Ancients. Using their Operatives, the Drox crushed and enslaved most of these races. The rest fled known space. When the Drox turned on their own Operatives, the Drox were utterly destroyed. Newer races emerged and thrived in the power void, never knowing the menace waited. Seizing their chance, the Ancients are invading to take their rightful place in the galaxy, as rulers! Thirsting for revenge, the Ancients can't harm the extinct Drox, but they can crush the next best thing, the Drox Operatives.

The Ancient enemies are back! Can you defend the Drox Operative Guild and younger races against the Invasion of the Ancients?

Drox Operative beta patch 1.011 can now be downloaded from the Soldak site.

It lists the following changes:

• overlord quests now give fear and legend points (Gilgamesh)
• made jump gate/stash area a little safer from storms and asteroids
• unlucky and poverty modes now give a 5% bonus to XP
• changed one of Shadow's traits from Defensive to Stealth
• now handle reduce power load failure better with components that have no durability (namad)
• fixed some problems with Hellfire because it didn't have a max range (Tyrax Lightning)
• added max range to Plasma Web and Radiation Pulse Weapon
• delivering needed items now reduces fear points by 0.5 (not a lot but some)
• 3rd party NPCs (like in rebellions) are now neutral parties that no one attacks (CaptainWinky)
• increased ECCM components attack per level from 15.0 to 30.0 (Tuidjy)
• monster missiles now do more damage to compensate for slower firing rate
• fixed ship build time being classified when you have a quest to protect that planet
• change race power comparison values a lot (increase planets value by 20X and tech value by 4X)
• added many more names to ships random name generator
• fixed some help topics not getting added correctly if added on first frame (Steve)
• fixed planet name in recession/depression events
• ceasefire label now show up when highlighting Drox logo on relations screen
• now ceasefire text has commas for large costs
• now show race in boss quest titles
• show names now works on sector map
• fixed nevermind, cancel, and money localizations (DarthNihilus)
• changed Galaxy to Sector in help
• fixed Entering, Legendary, Normal, Rarity, Durability, Duration, and Requires localization (DarthNihilus)
• changed JumpGate localization so the word order can be changed (DarthNihilus)
• added depth range support in shaders
• now mention permanently dead/broken on components in hardcore
• no longer count unfixable hardcore components in total repair cost
• no longer show a repair cost on component if unfixable due to hardcore
• should no longer get stuck messages from eliminated races
• fixed Accept, Solve, Ignore, Reject, Demand, and Clear localization (DarthNihilus)

Soldak Entertainment has released a new beta patch for Drox Operative. Here are the list of changes.

                                              1.010
                                               -----

• decreased radar needed per level from 15.0 to 13.5
• now radar can see through enemy cloaking (Tyrax Lightning)
• now get double attack value when in radar range of an enemy
• can now pay credits to have Brunt planets add a new component to their inventory
• Hive now carry more goods
• now start new ships with shields and thruster boost consumables
• races can now build a smaller hull sized ship if no defenders around a planet (TYP)
• fixed a potential crash when splitting races
• destroying all of the races no longer counts as a diplomatic win (Gilgamesh)
• increased area effect EM weapons max range damage from 10% to 20% (random_rolle)
• added some time text to Geomagnetic storm (Steve)
• improved depression icon
• improved energy net icon
• changed save version to 142
• fixed a couple database files not using the correct index
• changed comet effects to have more of a tail (lostSoul)
• using the mouse wheel to cycle your right click slots no longer affects the quest menu (ScrObot)
• the main text event time now uses ui_textEventsTime (makes it configurable and shortens it to 20 seconds) (Crisses)
• now backspace is a configurable key
• backspace defaults to alternate clear use slot key (helpful for keyboards that don't have a proper delete key like mac laptops)
• quest type of enemies no longer cloak
• fixed a few Anti-Neutronium Device quest text issues
• communication arrays will now alert nearby ships when they are under attack
• now have better lighting on create ship and shipyard screens
• fixed Inventory translation (DarthNihilus)
• fixed MiniMap translation (DarthNihilus)
• fixed Paused translation (DarthNihilus)
• fixed terraforming dead planet quest

Soldak Entertainment sends news that a  Mod SDK for Drox Operative has been released.

The SDK has a lot of documentation on how to mod Drox Operative, a few example mods, and a few tools (font/model related).

We encourage anyone that wants to make mods for Drox Operative to go right ahead.  If your mod is good enough, we will even link over to it from this page.  We just have a few simple ground rules:

• The mod cannot contain any textures, models, or sounds from any of our games or demos (it can reference them of course, just can't include them)
• Cannot claim to be official content
• Cannot be sold or used for any other commercial purpose
• Cannot be specifically made to work with the demo or a pirated copy of the game
• Link back to our website (http://www.soldak.com/)
• Soldak Entertainment, Inc. still owns all rights to Drox Operative properties
• We reserve the right to take back these rights at any time if we feel that you are abusing our properties
• Don't violate anyone else's copyrights, trademarks, etc.

 

Drox Operative Beta Patch 1.009 is now available. The patch contains the following fixes.

Since the last official patch, the patch gives Fringe planets the ability to reduce the power load of player components, gives repair discounts at Dryad planets, makes Zombies spread better, and fixes a lot of little things.

Patch 1.004 for this game has been uploaded by Soldak Entertainment. The changelog:

1.004
fixed races cancelling treaties for almost no credits
monster races can no longer take over gas planets
decreased race specific components on planets chance from 0.9 to 0.75
added a paid to break treaty message
now relations go down when treaties are cancelled so they take some work to get back

You can get the patch here.

Steven Peeler blogs about working on an expansion for Drox Operative:

It seems I haven't blogged in ages. :(

First off, we have Drox Operative on Steam's Greenlight. If you haven't already, go vote for Drox Operative on Greenlight so we can get the game on Steam. Please tell all of your friends, family, and anyone else that will listen to do so also. :)

This is still pretty much unofficial, but we are working on an expansion. Unofficial in this case just means that we could change our minds and work on something else instead. At this point in time there aren't any guaranteed new features or content, but it will most likely contain at least a new race, new monsters, new components, and new quests. We do have a bunch of cool features that we think are going to make the expansion a must buy for any Drox fans. We will start to talk about the specifics once things are implemented and working.

One of the nice parts about working on an expansion is that we will be actively working on Drox. This means that we'll continue to have fairly regular patches and a lot of the smaller changes that were originally meant for the expansion will likely show up in the main game also.

As always, comments are welcome.

Soldak has updated Drox Operative. Word is "this patch adds new manually aimed ballistic weapons, makes it easier to deal with completed quests, balances a lot of things better, and fixes a bunch of minor issues".

From Soldak's twitter feed:

I've spent the last couple of days thinking about expansion ideas for Drox Operative.

Soldak has uploaded the first post-release beta patch for Drox Operative, which "makes selling components to a race improve their economy, improves component spawning, makes thrust boosts much better, and fixes a bunch of minor issues".

Giant Bomb has made a 30 minute commented Quick Look for this game. You can watch it here.

Soldak's Drox Operative has been reviewed by RPGCodex finding it to be a Diablo-like with a twist.

Overall, I enjoyed playing Drox Operative - especially experimenting with different ship builds and trying out all the different weapons this game has. There never was any moment where I thought the game was amazing, quite the contrary - sometimes its shortcomings became all too apparent after a long gaming session (such as the relatively slow movement speed considering the size of the gameworld, the lack of enemy variety, and a very unstructured difficulty/level progression), but for some reason, the game managed to keep me on my chair for hours at a time. I start a session to play a little, and suddenly, three hours are gone. I blame it on the fact that it's a rather solid ARPG that attempts something that has never really been done before - putting the player into the world of a strategy game with competing factions and letting him interact with them in any way he likes.

GameBanshee has reviewed the space sandbox game Drox Operative and weren't too excited.

For the most part, what you do in the game is fly around and shoot things.  There are neutral enemies in each sector, so you don't have to involve yourself with the factions if you don't want to.  You can just kill neutral enemies (including special boss ships and structures) and complete quests for the factions, and as long as you don't ally yourself with anybody or go to war with anybody, the factions largely ignore you.  That means it's easy (but sometimes time-consuming) to win each sector.  You can just hang around and wait to see which faction is going to dominate, and then do things (like complete quests for them, kill their enemies, and protect their planets) to curry their favor and gain an alliance with them.

There are a variety of quests available in the game.  Factions ask you to kill things, explore planets, rescue stranded ships, deliver goods, and more.  Each faction planet is basically a shopkeeper, and deliveries require you to buy an object from one planet and then FedEx it to another.  I found the delivery quests to be a bit tedious (and at odds with action RPGs) so I mostly avoided them and focused on the quests to hunt down enemy ships.  Conveniently, the game makes it straightforward to see which quests are available in the planetary system that you're currently in, and so it's easy to scroll through and select the quests you want to tackle.  But you have to be quick.  Sometimes factions complete quests on their own.

Time to gather some reviews of Drox Operative that have showed up in the last couple of days.

Gaming Illustrated, 80%

Overall, Drox Operative for the PC is a great game that will bring hours of fun. Although the visual styling is on the simplistic side and more music tunes would have been welcome. They do well to accentuate the real meat and potatoes of the game. Which is the addicting loot collection and ship customization. Combine that with the intricacies of a dynamic living and breathing galaxy each operative must shape to further their goals. Soldak Entertainment has created a compelling action RPG that will surely have gamers jettison many hours into space.

Technology Tell, A-

Winning a system is somewhat open ended in Drox Operative. A player can win militarily (allied to the sole surviving race), diplomatically (allied to an alliance of multiple races), economically, or through fear (slaughtering racial ships and planets), or as a legend (slaughtering monsters and rescuing people). The last two, regrettably, work against each other. If a race declares war on you, you can lose legend points fighting their ships…bit of a shame, really, as legend is the only way to win that doesn’t necessarily involve manipulating the other races.

Gamentrain, 4/5

The high initial curve and atypical setting may scare off first timers, but when given time and dedication the value of Drox Operative comes through. The graphics are not particularly spectacular, but they do their job. The music approaches monotony and is quickly forgotten. But those faults are easily forgiven in the wake of a fairly formidable framework from which the biggest game studios today can learn. It’s an addictive space RPG which keeps the rewards coming, a toolbox that gives plenty of freedom, barely ever falling into boring farming, and that’s not something a lot of productions of this kind, whether single player or MMO, can brag about.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun

At first, it’s a little vague and clumsy, like a drunk politician, but once you allow your eyes to adjust, the bar that fills when a planet is explored might just become an image of forests coming into view, and diplomatic dealings with an aggressor, bombarding a friendly planet from orbit, could become a tale for the ages. While it doesn’t have the flashy, immediate appeal of a conventional Pinata-popper like Diablo, Drox Operative provides the greater gift of a world in which the action part of ARPG has consequences, as does inaction.

Capsule Computers, 8.5

While not the absolute best graphics that could be utilized for a game the effort put into the variety of race and monster ships is apparent on even the first playthrough.  Every type of ship fits the personality of the race it represents and the monsters in the game are not only vastly different from each other, but each has variation among its own kind that provides a varied experience when travelling around a system.  It might have been nice to see a bit more variety among the different speakers of the races, but one for each does a fine job as the time spent seeing these is fairly limited in gameplay.  There isn’t much else that could be asked for in terms of visuals for an RPG with the depth that this has, as too much effort might have caused the gameplay itself to suffer, which would have severely hindered the games quality.

VideoGameWriters, 4/5

It took me a little bit to “get” Drox Operative, but once I did, I was impressed with the amount of layers the game has. The NPC factions are constantly doing their own thing, sometimes getting in your way and sometimes helping you out, which kept me on my toes. The racial relations element also helps keep Drox Operative from being just another click-and-loot fest in space.

IndieRPGs, 3/5

Drox Operative is highly ambitious, but only partially lives up to its potential due to a steep difficulty curve, minimalist writing, and lack of clear, immediate access to the information the player needs (mainly in the art and quest components). I’m impressed with what Soldak was trying to do here, and recommend the game to people looking for a hardcore action roguelike as well as those who enjoy micromanaging under time pressure, but in its present state its not for a broader audience.

Two more reviews for Soldak's Drox operative showed up in the last two days.

Leviathyn, 7

Overall, I liked Drox Operative, there is definitely fun to be had here, but it got a bit too repetitive for me. I’ve been burned out on loot-fests and Skinner box leveling, and those things are part and parcel of the Drox Operative experience. The addition of diplomatic options helps, but without a strong, interesting narrative, I don’t think I’ll be playing Drox Operative again. But it’s a solid enough RPG with impressive enough replayability that I feel comfortable saying that if you still enjoy finding loot and killing hundreds of enemies and leveling up, then you’ll get your money’s worth out of Drox Operative and possibly more.

Gamer Living, 4.5/5

For such a diverse and complex game, Drox Operative delivers in terms of ease of gameplay, length, and entertainment overall.  If you’re looking to test your skills of manipulation or “negotiation,” this is the action RPG for you.

Soldak sent us five links to Drox Operative reviews and impressions:

• http://www.outofeight.info/2012/12/drox-operative-impressions.html
• http://indiestatik.com/2012/12/11/drilling-into-the-root-canal-of-space-drox-operative/
• http://www.gamercast.net/drox-operative-review
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bfafdqGmSg
• http://www.elcomesoft.com/2012/12/review-drox-operative.html

Here's a snip from Gamercast:

Drox Operative is a level based action-RPG based around systems, each system is made up of a variety of races that will trade, colonise, terraform and carry out anything that you yourself would in a complex strategy game, unfortunately these races aren't always peaceful to each other, and they'll even go so far as to actively declare war. These dynamic and evolving galaxies are without a doubt the most impressive and alluring qualities of Drox Operative, and one that makes this simple RPG a game that you should be playing.

...and ElcomeSoft:

Drox Operative is a game which I say draws inspiration from games like Space Rangers and Diablo, whilst introducing some 4X elements from classics such as Civilisation to form an enjoyable eclectic mix of gaming. The addition of leveling up, multiple race choices and the random universe generator all combine together with several other elements including the loot system to produce a game which possesses a great amount of replayability. 

Should you buy Drox Operative? For me, it's a Yes. I tried the Demo and I liked it. Immediately I felt a bit overwhelmed but guided gently by the tooltips and quickly settled in to enjoy a ride which I have missed sorely since completing Space Rangers 2 a number of years back. The real time element keeps things a bit sharper and more actiony and although the lack of story will put some people off, the wide variety of options available to the player when combined with the non-linearity of Drox Operative meld together very nicely.

The Drox Operative demo has been updated to v1.00, catching it up to the release code version.

In the Drox Operative demo, you can get a taste of the dynamic and ever changing galaxy. There is no time limit, but it does limit everything to around level 6. The demos are about 120 MB and are currently version 1.000.

Soldak announces their space-y action/RPG Drox Operative has left beta and is now available:

Dallas, Texas, November 29, 2012 - Soldak Entertainment today announced the availability of Drox Operative.

Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows and Mac.

Drox Operative can be purchased at:
http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/Buy.html

Or try the demo at:
http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/demo.html

Eons ago the Drox ruled the galaxy through their mighty Operatives. These elite starship captains were trained to accomplish the impossible at whatever cost necessary. Whether employing stealth or brute force, they were always deadly. Using these Operatives, the Drox built a starlane system for quick travel amongst the stars, colonized and conquered millions of planets, and ruled the galaxy with an iron grip for over 100,000 years. Eventually realizing their Operatives were a threat, they attempted to assassinate all of them. They failed. The following Galactic Civil War was devastating.

Thousands of years later, the Drox are extinct, but the secretive Drox Operative guild lives on. They have learned their lesson though: loyalty to any one race is foolish. They now work for whoever can pay. And pay they do! Empires might span hundreds of planets and thousands of ships, but when a critical task arises, they still turn to an Operative.

In the new space race, the major races are scouting, colonizing, and expanding, trying to take over the galaxy by diplomacy, technology, war, or any other means their scheming minds can contemplate.

As a Drox Operative it's NOT your job to manage all of those annoying people, build thousands of buildings, play nice with your enemies, or balance the budget. It IS your job to pick the winning side and maybe even help them conquer the galaxy if you're being nice, more importantly though is to rake in as many credits as possible, well that and build the coolest, deadliest ship in the known universe. Not many screw with an Operative captaining a Dreadnaught!

Features:

Explore a dynamic and evolving galaxy
Explore a unique sector of the galaxy in every game, with different "monsters", ship components, quests, and even races
Fight in the galactic war between the various alien races
Battle hundreds of different enemy starships
Build the coolest and deadliest starship in the galaxy
Outfit your ship with thousands of components and crew
Adventure with your friends with co-op multiplayer

You can go to http://www.soldak.com for more information about Drox Operative and Soldak Entertainment.

Drox Operative has been updated to v0.932 with a patch that "fixes a bunch of small issues, adds more polish, and balances the game a bit better".

Soldak is offering the download for the demo of Drox operative. Both Windows and Mac users can enjoy the demo. The demo does not have a time limit, but it limits you to continue enjoying the demo starting at around level 6. The demo is 120MB in size.

Soldak has kicked up the last two race updates for Drox Operative (Shadow and Human) and the v0.929 beta has been released adding Bounty Hunters:

This patch adds Bounty Hunters, fixes some higher level quests not showing up correctly, and as usual fixes a bunch of small things.

Drox Operative has advanced to v0.928 for those following Soldak's space action/RPG:

This patch has a few balance changes, some useful UI tweaks, and a bunch of fixes.

We skipped a couple of Drox Operative beta patches but Soldak has now upped the game to v0.924. Word is "this patch adds bonus skills for high base crew points, adds damage bonuses/penalties for different damage/defense type combinations, and as usual fixes a bunch of small things".

The Drox Operative beta has been powering along, with 0.919 just released. This version "makes the races more distinct" along with a bunch of fixes.

Inside Mac Games has a preview for this game.   A quote on how you design your own universe:

Before you even start playing, you'll have to design the universe you enter. Do you pick a huge universe where you'll be vastly overpowered by the hordes of faction planets, or a tiny universe where they die to neutrals? Should you go with speedy quests that are hard to finish in time or slow quests that leave you with an age to complete on your own time? There aren't many decisions to make in the end, but each one will definitely color your universe a different way. Should it be a universe based off a character that you've already made, you can even select a starting level for it. If you pick a lower one than your own, enemies will fall easily but give you worthless gear. If it's higher, it's the opposite. All your choices will matter.

Soldak's spacey action/RPG Drox Operative has been previewed at Examiner.com:

Although Drox Operative is still largely built upon familiar action-RPG mechanics, your overall goal is a more strategic one, and not so much the expected endless grind to square off against a final boss monster. (Don’t worry, there are still plenty of things to murder and rob in the endless loot pursuit).

And you aren’t a hero; you’re just a greedy, selfish pig. Your ultimate goal is to ally yourself with the strongest alien race in the game. To that end you may need to help shift or defend the balance of power occasionally—which usually means siding with (and helping) whoever is kicking the most butt. 

While we're on Drox, the beta has reached v0.914.

Drox hits 0.912 as Soldak works hard to get their spacey action/RPG to release. Patch here and notes here.

IndieGames has a preview for this game. A quote about the races:

Impressively the game offers a huge selection of playable races that cover everything from typical fantasy fair to Babylon 5 references yet lack the Drox. These have apparently been extinct for thousands of years and all that remains is the secretive Drox Operative guild. Said former servants of the Drox have discovered that -having barely avoided extinction while trying to serve the galaxy- survival and power are of paramount importance, and now only work for the highest bidder as opposed to the collective happiness of the galaxy. Added to that and rather helpfully they are probably the best and most expensive trouble-shooters any space-faring race could hire.

Two new previews of Soldak's Drox Operative are available from Gaming Illustrated and Elder Geek. From the former:

Throughout your exploits in space you will explore planets, search space debris, and encounter countless enemies to destroy as you work to accomplish your quest at hand.  Combat is relatively easy to master right away – it mostly relies on left clicking on your enemies until they’re dead.  The trick to fighting, especially in large groups, is determining which of your enemies at hand are the largest threats and who can be ignored until you have the more important targets under control.  After these fights you will find that some of the enemies may have dropped objects, which you can then pick up and install on your ship, upgrading defense, attack, speed, and many other attributes.  You also have a chance to find ship parts when you search wreckage floating in your path or you might happen upon some event on a new planet that you can reap some rewards from.  The interesting part about exploring new planets is that you may also yield new crew members in the process, and we all know having more crew members is never a bad thing until pay day comes, and yes, there is a time when you need to pay the salaries of those working aboard your vessel.  The inherent ability to choose which attributes to upgrade is imperative for an RPG game, and from my hands on experience with this game, I can attest to the fact that you really can make your ship work how you want it to work.  I tried out a couple different builds, but the one I landed on was heavily focused on dealing damage and being agile, as to be able to avoid incoming attacks.  With the added leveling system, where you get experience from destroying enemies and completing quests, I was able to customize my ship’s play style extremely finely, making it work exactly as I envisioned it working.  Now, I know for a fact that my build probably wasn’t the most effective because I had absolutely the bare minimum level of defenses, so I would be extremely easy to kill if I got stuck in a bind, but there lies the beauty of this game.  You can make it what you want.

...and the latter:

Unlike most action RPGs, Drox Operative does not really have a set story. It’s mainly up to you to figure out who you want to ally with and who you want to destroy. As you take quests from various races you will find out that the galaxy is very large and you will have to read a little to find out which star system or planet you need to go to. Completing quests boosts your relationship with the race that gave it to you, and depending on what you did, you might also diminish relationships with other races. The other races don’t just sit around waiting for you to finish quests either. If you take too long odds are they will just do it themselves and you will fail it, so pick and choose what quests you take.

A new beta is a available for Drox Operative that "adds more race/race interaction quests, makes quests easier to work with, improves the maps even more, added a bunch of advantages to weaker races, and fixes a bunch of other little things".

GameBanshee has done another one of their feature articles. This time, Eric Schwarz has written about Soldak Entertainment's game, Drox Operative. He penned a two-page preview for this game:

A quote from the preview about the: 

Closing Thoughts

 Overall, Drox Operative is shaping up to be a very interesting and compelling game. Although similar ideas have been attempted recently, such as in S.P.A.Z. last year, Drox Operative is a slightly simpler and more accessible game that puts less emphasis on the strategy side and more on the RPG side. The game is still in a rough state, but as most of the problems are related to game balance, these are the sorts of things I'm fairly confident will be worked out before the game is released, especially given the proactive changes Soldak have been making via regular updates.

IndieRPGs.com has a video preview of Soldak's space-y action/RPG, Drox Operative.

While we're on Drox, a new 0.908 beta has also been released.

Soldak's space-y Drox Operative beta has advanced to 0.907:

This patch gives the player more information about the internals of the races, fixes an end game issue, greatly increases the rewards of destroying race ships and planets, and fixes a lot of other little things.

Drox Operative has been upped to v0.906, adding new features and fixing bugs. In particular, the racial differences have been strengthened:

This patch makes races defend their planets better, starts giving the player more info about the races, adds a win progress screen, makes vendors more race specific, and fixes a lot of other little things.

For those following Drox Operative, there's a new v0.904 beta release (patch notes here), with a range of fixes and improvements. Via twitter, Soldak also mentions a new idea:

working on some race specific component slot ideas today for Drox Operative

SpaceSector has a a preview for this game. The link: http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2012/06/drox-operative-preview/

The quote:

Drox Operative is a game very much-so about making decisions, prioritization, and the struggle to make it out of it all in one piece. The good news is the game doesn’t overly punish you for your failures as you will fail at times when dozens of urgent events need your attention. As long as you can avoid going to war with all remaining races, or can quickly obtain peace with one of them within ten minutes if this does occur, you will survive to continue the sector. Even still, a sector loss is only a sector loss. Your ship, as long as it is not a “hardcore” ship, will survive any number of deaths or sector losses with only a slight penalty to currency and experience.

Space Game Junkie serves up a preview of Soldak's Drox Operative, which is currently in beta:

Once you get over the initial growing pangs — which will hopefully be less of an issue as the game improves — the game gives you a TON of things to do. Even without dealing with the races, there are enemy monsters to kill and loot, space junk and derelicts to salvage, anomalies to be scanned and asteroids to mine, for example. Once you bring the empires into the mix, however, that’s when the game REALLY gets fun.

For those playing or watching the beta progress, there have been three patches over the last week or so.

You can now preorder Soldak's space action/RPG Drox Operative for $14.99, which also gets you immediate access to the current beta build:

The new starship action RPG, Drox Operative, is available for pre-order!

For Immediate Release

Dallas, Texas, June 14, 2012 - Pre-orders of Drox Operative are now available (Windows & Mac) at http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/Buy.html

Gamers who pre-order Drox Operative will receive full access to the latest beta build, a reduced pre-order price of only $14.99, the opportunity to give Soldak feedback on our forums which can influence the game, and of course, the final version when it becomes available.

Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer.

Eons ago the Drox ruled the galaxy through their mighty Operatives. These elite starship captains were trained to accomplish the impossible at whatever cost necessary. Whether employing stealth or brute force, they were always deadly. Using these Operatives, the Drox built a starlane system for quick travel amongst the stars, colonized and conquered millions of planets, and ruled the galaxy with an iron grip for over 100,000 years. Eventually realizing their Operatives were a threat, they attempted to assassinate all of them. They failed. The following Galactic Civil War was devastating.

Thousands of years later, the Drox are extinct, but the secretive Drox Operative guild lives on. They have learned their lesson though: loyalty to any one race is foolish. They now work for whoever can pay. And pay they do! Empires might span hundreds of planets and thousands of ships, but when a critical task arises, they still turn to an Operative.

In the new space race, the major races are scouting, colonizing, and expanding, trying to take over the galaxy by diplomacy, technology, war, or any other means their scheming minds can contemplate.

As a Drox Operative it's NOT your job to manage all of those annoying people, build thousands of buildings, play nice with your enemies, or balance the budget. It IS your job to pick the winning side and maybe even help them conquer the galaxy if you're being nice, more importantly though is to rake in as many credits as possible, well that and build the coolest, deadliest ship in the known universe. Not many screw with an Operative captaining a Dreadnaught!

For more information about Drox Operative, head over to http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/Overview.html

Features:

• Explore a dynamic and evolving galaxy
• Explore a unique sector of the galaxy in every game, with different "monsters", ship components, quests, and even races
• Fight in the galactic war between the various alien races
• Battle hundreds of different enemy starships
• Build the coolest and deadliest starship in the galaxy
• Outfit your ship with thousands of components and crew
• Adventure with your friends with co-op multiplayer

Soldak has a new Drox Operative blog post that describes "challenges" in their space ARPG:

We've recently added a new feature called challenges that I think is going to be really interesting for players. Essentially challenges are special sectors that are tougher than normal, have a specific setup (not random), and do many things that can't normally happen.

How it works is every 6 levels there is another challenge sector, and one extra at level 100, for a total of 17 challenges. This is visually represented as 4 sectors per quadrant and 1 final challenge for the galaxy on the challenges screen. When you beat one, the next one unlocks and you can play any unlocked challenge sector whenever you want. Each challenge has a title and a short description to give you a little glimpse of what you will be facing in that challenge.

The big difference between a challenge sector and a normal sector is that the initial conditions are hand crafted instead of being random. They have a set level, sector size, races present, quests, wars, alliances, and even sector modifiers. This seems a little strange for a game that has so much randomness in it, however they create a cool, shared experience. It always starts out the same, but the random events and the players' actions will quickly make an impact. Then everyone can compare how their challenges went. It will be interesting to see how varied the end results will be and what the players decided to do.

RPG France caught up with Steven Peeler to talk about Soldak and their games. A lengthy answer on Drox Operative (scroll down for English):

In terms of RPG, what does Drox Operative bring as new elements?

I think the biggest difference between Drox Operative and other space RPGs is that everything takes place in a dynamic sector of the galaxy where multiple races are exploring, colonizing, and fighting for supremacy. This works out differently in every game played depending on which races are present, what planets they colonize, how the monsters react, how diplomacy works out between the various races, and especially what the players decide to do about everything. Let’s go over an actual sequence of events that happened in one of my play tests a few days ago.

Things were going well. The most powerful race in the game, at least that I knew of, was the Lithosoid. I had solved all of their local problems: civil unrest, a plague or two, and some pesky monsters. They liked me so much we agreed to an alliance. That apparently went straight to their heads, because they soon got themselves into a two front war with the Drakk and the Overlords. I struggled to keep them in the lead and finally helped destroy their two enemies. I was sure I had secured the sector for them.

Then I received a message that they had failed sabotaging a Dryad planet. I didn’t even know that the Dryads were present in the sector. This was also a huge sign of the dangers coming my way. You see, the Dryads are pretty peaceful and yet really dangerous. What happens is they usually cultivate many alliances, which is great until you end up on the wrong side of all of those alliances. I decided to break off my alliance with the Lithosoid right then and there. Soon after, I located the Dryad and bought contacts with their two allies. All three of them were more powerful than my ex-ally! A short while after that, the Dryad and their allies declared war on the poor Lithosoid. The Lithosoid didn’t stand much of a chance without an Operative backing them.

The cool thing about all of this is that it is completely dynamic, you aren’t likely to see the same exact scenario again, I had the freedom to make real choices to navigate the diplomatic landscape, and there were probably many viable alternatives that I could have taken.

Soldak has kicked up a few more enemy races for Drox Operative, their space-y action/RPG.

Blogsite Random Tower has an interview with Steven Peeler from Soldak, chatting about their space-y action/RPG, Drox Operative:

4. Compared to your last game, Din's Curse, what kind of new features players could find?

The biggest new feature is basically all of the diplomacy with the races vying for control of your current sector of space. It’s up to you who to support, who to hinder, and how you will accomplish all of this. Just a reminder, it’s your goal to eventually be on the winning side. It gets tricky pretty fast though.

For example, the ship Cyano is terrorizing the star system that you are currently scouting.You believe that you could win the battle and the Cortex are offering a pretty hefty bounty for the destruction of Cyano. Do you destroy Cyano and collect on the bounty? In this case, the Cortex are the second most powerful race, they are well behind the Drakk empire, the Cortex and the Drakk are at war, and the Drakk don’t particular like you.

Yeah, it just got much more complex.

If you take the bounty, you will make the second most powerful race happier and more stable, but at the same time you will piss off the most powerful race. Do you take the quick cash and try to repair the relations hit later? Do you throw your full weight behind the Cortex and try to overthrow the Drakk? Or do you kiss up to the Drakk and let the Cortex handle their own problems? It’s completely up to you.

Soldak has updated their Drox Operative Races page with the Drakk and Dryad, as well as updating the portraits and traits for all the races:

Drakk

Danger Level: Very High

The aggressive, flying dragon-men are fierce opponents planet side and in space. Perfecting war to an art Drox Operative - Drakk Portraithelped quell rebellious in-fighting. The peace promoted a long-term stability for a species with such a slow reproductive cycle. This secure warrior tradition makes their race very dangerous to outsiders. Some believe a rogue Operative influenced the Drakk culture in ancient times.

Steven Peeler from Soldak writes about the weapons in Drox Operative in their latest blog update:

First of all, there are a lot of different types of weapons. Ballistic weapons fire a small, physical object at very high speeds (think railgun). Beam weapons fire some kind of particle beam (like a laser). Bomb weapons launch a bomb directly to the specified point in space and explodes. Doomsday weapons are massive, one use weapons which are explained more here. EM weapons fire an electromagnetic pulse of various sorts that damages and causes lingering problems. Fighter bays launch fighters of course. Freezer weapons do damage, but at the same time are designed to impact the movement of the enemy in some way. Mine weapons launch mines. While mines lack enemy tracking, they makes up for it with power. Missile weapons fires missiles that track their targets. Virus weapons use various particle beams to do damage, but also upload a virus to disrupt the enemy's systems. Then there are various other weapons that don't fit into any category very well, things like Lightning Fields, Hellfire, and Big Bang.

It's been quite a while since we saw the first and only release of screens for Drox Operative but Soldak hs just released another four for their upcoming space-y RPG.

Soldak's Steven Peeler has been interviewed at Gameshark on his space-y RPG, Drox Operative:

I read on your development blog that it's like Master of Orion from a mercenary captain's point of view with action-rpg mechanics. I think it's an interesting idea to have the player as a small part of a galactic war rather than in control of it. Is that still an accurate description of the setting? What made you choose this as a backdrop?

That description is still pretty accurate. You aren’t just some run of the mill mercenary any more though, you are an elite Operative. However, you are thrown into a conflict between alien races fighting for control of the local sector. That part is definitely still there.

I decided on this as the setting because I felt this would make the game fairly unique, I really like 4X strategy games like Master of Orion, and the idea works really well with the dynamic game systems we have developed for Depths of Peril and Din’s Curse. 

...and the official site has a blog entry on Doomsday Weapons, which sound cool:

I believe I have briefly mentioned Doomsday weapons before but they are so much fun I thought I would devote an entire blog post to them. So what is a Doomsday Weapon? Well it's basically a weapon so big and nasty that it really might be the end of the world. Luckily there is usually more than one inhabited world.

So how do they work? You use them just like any normal weapon, except they are completely uncontrollable once launched. They will do a massive amount of damage to anyone that is too close. That includes your enemies, your allies, and even your own ship. Everything in a Doomsday Weapon's path is going to be destroyed. You need to be really careful when you let one of these loose.

Soldak has released an overview on two more races in their upcoming space-y RPG, Drox Operative. Here's on of the two:

Storm

The only type of Talon on amiable terms with the Dryad are the frigate sized Storm. Its body is cylindrical with a narrow crest and two rear spikes. They attack prey and other dangers by harnessing vast electric-like energy into lightning cannons. They prefer living in the inner section of solar systems and feed primarily from sunlight.

Storm are the only Talon who mate in monogamous pairs. Though the females are smaller and more aggressive, both genders are playful within family groups. Mothers birth live ships, and other often younger females help raise and protect the young.

One of the most unusual features of Storm is their willingness to help several other species of Talon (Lasher, Flame, Claw, and Swarm) by towing injured vessels to resources and saving their lives. They are intelligent creatures and keep away from potentially dangerous Talon like Quake, Ghost and the larger Tide. Storm are quick to attack and hard to kill. They rarely interfere with other Talon or Dryad fights, but will tenaciously defend their own kind.

Steven Peeler from Soldak Entertainmen talked to Gamercast.  The result is an interview in which he tells us what we should expect from space-based combat, inclduing how the dynamic quest system functions, why there won't be any classes to pick from and much more. A sample:

GC: Can we ask how the space battles work?

SP: Battles are fairly quick conflicts fought in real-time, but are focused more on tactics rather than good reflexes. You decide where to pilot the ship and which weapons or other ship components to use and when. Targeting of enemies is fairly automatic, although you can control this when you want. The usable components are usually direct weapons like Fusion Beams and Neutronium Cannons, but can also be more indirect weapons like Fighters and Anti-Matter Mines, active defenses like Flares and Decoys, consumables like Nanite Repair and Energy Spikes, and special abilities like Stasis Fields and Tractor Beams. There are even doomsday devices like Grey Goo. Most of these use up your energy reserves though, so you have to be careful how fast you burn through it.

Soldak has a Drox Operative update covering the rather cool idea of subraces that develop and evolve. Here's a lengthy snip to understand the concept:

Subraces are usually a powerful, but very small group within one of the main races in Drox Operative. These subraces won't exist at all at the beginning of a new game, but can come about in various ways. Some just happen randomly due to evolution, some are created by their parent race in response to dangers, and some are just accidents. Because they are individually more powerful than an ordinary person of the race in question, they are often used for their talents and abused because they are different, but they are also generally feared. So it's not a huge surprise that when given a chance they rebel and are willing to die for their freedom.

Their rebellions can be very nasty affairs for both sides. The government is likely to quell the rebellion with deadly force and the subrace rebels will likely use their talents to gain their freedom. This of course is where the player comes in. You actually have a choice, which side do you help out? Do you help the oppressive government that you already have a relationship with or do you help out the dangerous rebels?

If the rebellion is successful, the subrace will become a fully functioning new race in your sector of the galaxy. This means they will start building ships, have a functioning economy, scout and colonize planets, and start diplomatic relationships with the other races. This will definitely be disruptive to the sector. There is now a new force to deal with, they are powerful, and they tend to be pissed off due to their mistreatment. This also means if they are ultimately successful, you better hope you backed them when they asked for help.

Soldak has kicked up a new update, offering a summary of the Hive and Utopian races in their upcoming spacey RPG, Drox Operative:

Hive

Danger Level: Moderate

The insectoid hive civilization includes many species evolving together into a communal cast system. While art, economy and technology aren’t their strong suits, utilizing different breeds for workers, warriors and rulers definitely has its advantages. Few civilizations can compete with the hive’s efficiency at production and harvesting.

Soldak has kicked up an update for Drox Operative, revealing some more races such as the Lithosoid:

Hardy lithosoid find sustenance in almost anything, and their regenerative abilities give them a colonizing advantage, especially on hazardous planets. Both characteristics make them very hard to kill. Luckily, these rock-men are not known for intelligence. Their evolution didn’t require it. Lithosoid destroy like a force of nature, taking what others don’t want before overwhelming them by sheer numbers. They’re avid explorers and fill a gluttonous procreative compulsion through rapid growth and expansion.

Soldak has kicked up their first update on races for Drox Operative, introducing the Brunt and the Cortex:

In the galaxy where Drox Operative takes place there are 13 different races. Ten of these races are fairly diplomatic. They will at least pretend to listen before they try to eradicate the other races on the way to galatic domination. The other three? They are pretty much hostile to all life for one reason or another. The following may contain small spoilers.

Soldak has kicked up a new blog entry on their space-y RPG, Drox Operative:

You can't just add a skill point to get a better tractor beam. You need to actually find and obtain a better tractor beam. You also need to make sure your ship is capable of using the higher tech tractor beam (power and crew requirements). Since you rely on finding your "skills", your tactics constantly evolve based on what components you find. This is especially true since not all component types are available at all levels. Another interesting thing is that getting a new "skill" is no longer tied to leveling up and can be obtained at any time. A new awesome component might drop during the next fight. And the last nice thing about components as skills is that you can easily remove any component and add a new one any time you want with no penalty. On the flip side though you only have a limited space to install components, although this grows as you gain bigger ships.

Soldak has released the first screens for their spacey RPG, Drox Operative. Looking good!

Soldak has a new blog entry for Drox Operative, covering how crew will work for your spaceship. This excerpt is about half of the entry:

In Drox Operative, crew is an important part of your ship and as is usually true with people, they have their positives and negatives.

First off crew can sometimes be hard to come by. Unlike many things in the game, they can't be sold, bought, traded, or stored anywhere. They will only serve on your ship if you hire them, rescue them, or accomplish some kind of task for them.

They also expect to be treated and paid well. If they get unhappy enough they will refuse to work and eventually will even leave your sorry butt. So how does this work? Well first they expect to be paid every once in a while, so they slowly get upset between payments. They also really don't care for being hurt or killed, imagine that. Each individual is also from one of the races in the game. Do something bad to their race and they are going to get upset. Do something nice for their race and it will make them a bit happier. Actually paying them is the biggest positive contributor to their happiness of course. It is your choice when and how often to pay them.

Another one of the negatives is that they can be hurt and can even die. They do slowly heal over time and you can even pay to heal them. Be careful in hardcore though since death is permanent for the crew also.

Steven Peeler writes a new blog entry for Drox Operative, discussing the dynamic quests:

In my last 4 blog posts I talked about how I think the background setting in our upcoming space action RPG Drox Operative is really interesting because of how the races, economy, monsters, and environment all work and interact with one another. The important question though, does all of this effect the player or is it simply background material? For anyone that has played Depths of Peril and Din's Curse, you know we like very dynamic games and Drox isn't going to be an exception. All of these background things are going to impact the player to various degrees. Instead of explaining too much I'm going to give a bunch of examples.

Races: The different alien races are scouting, colonizing, and warring with each other to conquer the current sector of the galaxy. They might ask for something simply like scouting a planet for them or they might ask for something pretty drastic like attacking another race that they at war with.

Economy: With a real economy in place you might be asked to bring some food to a starving planet, deliver some minerals from a rich to a poor planet, or even break a planetary blockade.

Soldak has announced Drox Operative, the space-based RPG they've been discussing for a while. No media has been released yet, unfortunately, we we'll still have to wait for more details but at least it has a name:

Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer.

Eons ago the Drox ruled the galaxy through their mighty Operatives. These elite starship captains were trained to accomplish the impossible at whatever cost necessary. Whether employing stealth or brute force, they were always deadly. Using these Operatives, the Drox built a starlane system for quick travel amongst the stars, colonized and conquered millions of planets, and ruled the galaxy with an iron grip for over 100,000 years. Eventually realizing their Operatives were a threat, they attempted to assassinate all of them. They failed. The following Galactic Civil War was devastating.

Thousands of years later, the Drox are extinct, but the secretive Drox Operative guild lives on. They have learned their lesson though: loyalty to any one race is foolish. They now work for whoever can pay. And pay they do! Empires might span hundreds of planets and thousands of ships, but when a critical task arises, they still turn to an Operative.

In the new space race, the major races are scouting, colonizing, and expanding, trying to take over the galaxy by diplomacy, technology, war, or any other means their scheming minds can contemplate.

As a Drox Operative it's NOT your job to manage all of those annoying people, build thousands of buildings, play nice with your enemies, or balance the budget. It IS your job to pick the winning side and maybe even help them conquer the galaxy if you're being nice, more importantly though is to rake in as many credits as possible, well that and build the coolest, deadliest ship in the known universe. Not many screw with an Operative captaining a Dreadnaught!

Drox Operative is scheduled to be released in the 1st quarter of 2012, however it will be released when it's done.

Explore a dynamic and evolving galaxy

Explore a unique sector of the galaxy in every game, with different "monsters", ship components, quests, and even races

Fight in the galactic war between the various alien races

Battle hundreds of different enemy starships

Build the coolest and deadliest starship in the galaxy

Outfit your ship with thousands of components and crew

Adventure with your friends with co-op multiplayer