I have been somewhat silent for awhile now about what I have been cooking up behind the scenes, but today, I am excited to reveal that Astrox Imperium, the sequel to Astrox HSE, is on it's way .
As many of you know, Astrox was designed as a browser game, and because of this, many limitation were hard-coded into the game to help
optimize it for web play. It was only after the success of Astrox on Kongregate that many of you began asking for a stand alone version. I was directed to Steam by the players, and after much work, and plenty of hoop jumping, Astrox hit the Steam Store 2 years ago. It didn't take me long to realize that Astrox could be so much more if it had been designed as a stand alone game from the start.
I'm proud of this game and I want to make it the best that it can be. To do this properly, I had to start over from scratch, taking all the best parts of web version, and adding everything I would have added if there were no limitations. I am ecstatic to announce that after working diligently for the past year, my vision is finally coming to life. I started with a clear plan on what I
wanted to accomplish, and I would like to share some of that with you now. Hopefully this post and video will convey what Astrox Imperium is, and what you can expect to find when it is complete.
What is Astrox Imperium?
Astrox Imperium is a stand alone game that will have it's own store page, separate from Astrox HSE. It is not a DLC or expansion of Astrox HSE. It is slated for release in the 3rd quarter of 2018, and will include all the things I wanted for HSE but couldn't add without an entire code rewrite.
What will be different about Astrox Imperium?
Almost everything. I basically kept all the concepts that worked, and added all the stuff that was missing. I have read every review, suggestion, comment and idea that players have submitted over the past two years. I took notes and tried to find the best way to implement these features without making a mess of the fun parts. I think I have found a nice balance between the immersion, and the functional game-play elements.
MOD tools?
The game will include all the MOD tools I have created and currently am using to develop the content. This gives you the ability design and create just about everything in the game. No additional programs or files will be required, and everything you create can be shared via the workshop so that other players might enjoy your hard work.
Storylines and Factions?
Astrox Imperium will has a rich, unique, non-linear storyline, allowing you to play through missions and quests for 6 main factions, each with 2 sub factions that represent certain interests. By doing missions for these factions, the perspective of good guys and bad guys change. You are never locked into any faction, and with a little hard work, you can literally switch sides. Are you a pirate looking for the next big score? Lucrative, but you'll run into problems with the law. However, If that gets old, you can befriend the allies of your enemy and eventually get back into the good graces with those who once hunted you.
Combat Physics?
All active modules will not only be visible on the ships, but will function in a way that allow for a whole new level of ship configuration. Turrets actually turn, track, and lock their targets. Where you place these weapon modules will effect your combat play-style. Projectiles , missiles , beams and lasers, shields, engines, etc... will all operate within the physics engine, no RNG at all. This opens up combat to a whole new level. All NPC's play by the exact same rules, and are limited by the same weapons physics that you are. The direction that you point these modules will allow for endless configurations, and thus play-styles. Focus all modules in one direction, or space make use of their ranges
Example: If you are piloting a ship that has all the modules on one side of the
ship, you will find an advantage in broadside combat. Adding a passive module to improve your turn speed could make all the difference. Perhaps you choose to equip additional Engine modules to your ship, and have your weapons facing to the rear of the ship, so that you can deliver damage to ships that chase you, keeping them out of range as you use your superior thrust to escape their weapons systems. Maybe you move the weapons to the front of a ship, for a head on, guns blazing type configuration. The way you configure your ships are limitless. The same ship, with the same modules, can be configured many different ways to achieve various combat
play styles.
NPC's?
They are smart! they play just like you do. All NPC's are aligned to one of the 12 sub factions, behave accordingly, and are persistent in their actions and ability. They will reconfigure their ships, just like you do. They will optimize and adapt, just like you. You will actually learn a lot by watching NPC's.
Example: If you destroy an NPC miner that was mining Adamyte, you will discover that exact amount of ore in the wreckage. If an NPC grabs a crate that you dropped while you made a quick run to a station, you can recover your stuff by waxing them. The NPC AI is smart, and plays just like you. You can literally follow them to a station, and watch their stuff hit the market.
Command A fleet of NPC's-
You will be able to hire, befriend, and in rare cases enslave NPC's. Set their
targets, assign support roles, and even trade and equip their ships to make the most out of your missions. Create an organization and assign, train and level them up.
Sandbox play-
If you prefer the no story, procedural creation sandbox style play, you will be able to adjust practically every aspect of how the Astrox universe is created. If you thought The first Astrox had a lot of sliders to play with, you will be very happy with the new options available to the the galaxy generation screen.
Exploration-
Using the ship scanner is how you are able to lock onto targets, whether they be stations, resources , npcs or warp-gates. Each ship can only hold a finite number of locked targets in the targeting panel. You can toggle the Auto-scan feature, which will send out a new pulse scan when the ship has an available slot in the targeting panel. This allows for a feeling of true exploration, as not everything is always visible. Dense gaseous clouds and refracted light can obscure objects in space, and using your scanner will make uncovering them , much more realistic.
Along with the new scanner system, you will also find your exploration limited by the energy and life-support systems.Keeping close to a star will allow your solar systems to recharge your ships energy efficiently. the closer you are to the star, the faster it will charge. Not all sectors have stars, and in some cases, you will need to stock up on auxiliary power before exploring areas without a constant source of light.
Life support?
This is a new attribute that has been added to allow the player to manage their reach of exploration. Life support breaks down into 4 categories.
⦁ Food - You gotta eat right? Your ship comes equip with a food synthesis unit, and food items can be created in space using special food items. These will provide various bonuses to the pilot, and can be useful when training skills, engaging in combat, mining , or just plain exploring. You never 'Run Out' of food, but by discovering or purchasing new food items, you can manage your food systems in a way to exploit the play-style you prefer. Yes, there are space-burgers.
⦁ Water - is also an important factor of your life support system. Similar to food, your water collection, and filtration systems will provide you with clean drinking water and hot showers. Water is greatly effected by temperature, and if things get too hot or cold, your water will become and issue, thus limiting your exploration range.
⦁ Thermal - It's cold in space, and you need to keep warm. By upgrading and improving your thermal systems, your ship will provide the adequate warmth needed to maintain a comfortable temperature onboard. The further away from a star you are, the colder things get. Extreme temperatures can effect your ship, its modules, and so on. If you get too far away, and your thermal systems cannot keep the ship warm enough, you will suffer from malfunctioning equipment, thus limiting how far you can explore.
⦁ Waste disposal - At lower levels, waste is just ejected into space... I know, it's messy. But as you improve your waste management system, you will be able to extract and utilize the waste so that the resources it can provide are not wasted. You can wear diaper if you want, but at higher levels, you will be able to process and extract valuable resources and use the waste you produce in a productive way.
The best way to summarize the Life Support systems as it applies to game mechanics is this. The better your life support, the further from a station, or outpost you can travel. Eventually, you will need to construct you own outpost to allow for safe docking when exploring the furthest reaches of the Astrox universe.
New Targeting Mechanic?
Each target capable module now has independent targeting abilities. Only specialized modules effect all current targets. You can have each mining laser focused on a different rock, providing the range and position of the rocks do not interfere with the individual module's range of motion and orientation.
I am also very happy to announce the launch of AstroxImperium.com A new website dedicated to showcasing the development process. If you have questions or ideas, that will be the place to share them. It is still in it's infant form, but over the coming weeks, you will find all kinds of good stuff to keep your appetite at bay.
