Hi everyone,
next you can see the development roadmap for Interstellar Space: Genesis.
I remember what we are aiming towards.
Our goal: To develop a worthy spiritual successor to Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares, the great turn-based space 4X strategy game from the 90's. We want you to feel the atmosphere and that “feeling” of Master of Orion 2, while experiencing something new and fresh. We believe ISG has the potential to be one of the best space 4X games in the market and we aim at making it the most complete and comprehensive Turn Based Space 4X ever developed!
Category: The game will be single-player (i.e. no multiplayer at release).
Target platform: Windows PC, initially. We would like to have Mac and Linux versions, so those may come after we release, we'll see.
Master Plan
PRE-ALPHA (DONE)
* Game contained representative gameplay and assets
* VIP program started
* Pre-orders opened
* Early community feedback received
* AI was at about 33% complete
ALPHA (DONE - November 29th, 2018)
* Game is virtually feature complete and fully playable
* 4 playable races (with their own ship models, animations, and unique abilities)
* Community feedback received
* Assets about 50% complete
* AI at about 66% complete
[ We are here! ]
BETA
* Game will be feature and asset complete
* AI 100% done
* Final Quality Assurance validation testing
RELEASE [Q2 2019]
* At least 6 playable races (with their own ship models, animations, and unique abilities)
* The final game
POST-RELEASE
* 2 expansions are planned that will slowly reveal the universe of ISG to the player and bind it together to an experience of epic proportions.
* At least 2 DLC are planned. These will not be required to play the game but will offer greater depth in certain areas of the game for those who want it.
* Free content patches for everybody (with free improvements, bug fixes and balance changes) that will come with every expansion and DLC.
Current Status
As of December 3rd, 2018 (Alpha)
We're finally in Alpha! The game is now (virtually) feature complete.
It's been more than five years working on Interstellar Space: Genesis. We came a very long way since we first announced the game back in October 2016 (around 2 years ago).
All the gameplay systems are in and the game is now fully playable with 4 races at the moment. We plan to have at least 6 races at release.
A lot was added since Pre-Alpha 10. Pre-Alpha 11 was a consolidation build where all the gameplay was added and playtested with the support of the community.
Among all that was added and improved we highlight the overhaul of the starmap and system view, the addition of race customization, espionage, events, random tech trees, a new playable race (the Sulak) and a completely new soundtrack produced by Grant Kirkhope and Ryan McQuinn! There's also 12 new leaders, new and improved ship 3D models and new race looks and animations, among many other things that you can check in Pre-Alpha 11's release note.
We are very pleased with the feedback we received from the community. This Alpha is the result of all our collaboration and hard work since the days of Pre-Alpha 2 (for the VIPs) and Pre-Alpha 7 (for everyone).
But we're not there yet. Closed-beta will start soon, and we'll be improving and polishing the game, adding content and all the remaining assets for the release in Q2 2019!
Please check our FAQ if you have any doubts, and our website if you want to know more about Interstellar Space: Genesis. You can pre-order here.
Thanks for your support and please follow us on these various platforms for the latest updates!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/interstellarsg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interstellarspacegame/
IndieDB: https://www.indiedb.com/games/interstellar-space-genesis
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNPYsbt3-Btnaz48hHfnxJA
Forum: https://www.interstellarspacegame.com/forums/index.php
Older Entries
As of March 3rd, 2018 (Pre-Alpha 10)
We received a lot of great feedback from the community since we opened the pre-orders in July 13th, 2017. This has helped improve the game in every way. Thanks a lot to everyone who contributed!
The graphics were improved substantially, especially the races portraits, ship 3D models, weapons effects and the UI in general.
The ground combat and bombardment mechanics were added. Siege and blockades, as well. The ship's crew now gain experience and level up, giving more bonuses in combat. Orbital stations (star bases, battle stations and star fortresses) were also added, along with different modules that can be used to upgrade them.
You can also refit (upgrade) your starships now, to take advantage of their accumulated experience. Different scanner technology now allows to know more about the rival fleets' composition and destinations.
We've made a ton of UI improvements, other quality of life improvements and lots of balance changes to enhance the experience even more.
As you can see, Pre-Alpha 10 (the latest build) has added a lot to the game, and many of the existing features were also improved. We're now nearing Alpha, where we expect to be feature complete (or very near that), and have 2/3 of the AI functionality in place.
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As of July 13th, 2017 (Pre-Alpha 7)
Pre-orders with instant access are now open!
The AI is now operational! We estimate that the AI is currently operating at around "one-third" of its maximum potential when we reach the final release. The AI plays by the same rules as the Human player (i.e. they don't cheat).
Further note on the AI: The diplomatic AI is the least evolved AI code at the moment, and will be improved a lot in the coming months as we evolve the AI from a "1/3" to "2/3" operational status for the next major milestone.
Fighters and bombers are in.
Significant changes were made to the UI and to many of the graphics and icons.
We continued to receive a lot of great feedback from the VIPs which has helped improve the game substantially.
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As of March 28th, 2017
The vision for the game is established and most of the gameplay systems are already implemented, some in a more complete shape than others.
The game is playable, however some systems are still not implemented. Examples of these include: starbases, bombardment, ground combat, ship refit/upgrade, espionage, race customization and events.
There’s still no AI, or very minimal at this stage. A rudimentary AI is in place to help support the diplomacy and space combat auto-resolve functions. Very basic stuff still.
The AI work will start as of now and is expected to endure for the next 3 months or so where the plan is to have basic AI functionality ready for the public pre-orders with instant access, to open somewhere in the summer.
We find that the UI is serviceable at this stage and we expect it to improve a lot during the course of development.
All the art assets in the game are still placeholders. A first round of art procurement will start now and all assets will be replaced or completed when we launch the pre-orders. Further art and final assets will be procured with the funds raised from the pre-orders.
The major changes since the last report from October 2016 include the following: - new music tracks (credits to our forum member Vivisector 9999), a new building that boosts culture, 2 new leaders, more space monsters, auto-resolve function inside space combat, trade goods, miniaturization, many UI enhancements, new "low quality" models to test different ship styles and shapes, and a lot of bugs squashed.
On February 17th, 2017 we launched the "VIP Session", a closed playtesting program where several people from the community were invited to have access to the current build in order to help us playtest the game and tell us their thoughts and suggestions for improvement.
We received a ton of great feedback from the VIPs which has helped us a lot on shaping the game further and improve it to what we think is a good state for a Pre-Alpha.
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As of October 22nd, 2016
The vision for the game is established. Most gameplay systems are partially implemented. The game is already playable, but some systems are still to be implemented and some others are still in need of further design work.
There’s no AI, or very minimal at this stage. We do have some AI in the diplomacy and space combat, mostly to help satisfy the system's functional requirements and for some extra flavor, but only very basic stuff. The AI bulk work started when we reached pre-alpha and the plan is to have basic AI for Alpha1 (site pre-orders), advanced AI when we reach Alpha2 (Early Access), and final AI when we reach Beta.
We find that the UI is serviceable at this stage, better in some places (e.g. colony development, ship design) and in need of much further work in others (e.g. starmap and diplomacy).
The art is dummy, mostly placeholders for now, and everything we could find, really. We expect a first art pass just before the pre-orders open.
Systems that are partially implemented and playable: exploration, colony development, ship design, space combat, leaders, diplomacy, research and culture/social engineering.
Systems not implemented yet, but with a preliminary design established: Espionage and victory conditions.
Systems not implemented yet, with minimal design work done: Ground combat, space bombardment and race customization.
The reason for having minimal design work done for ground combat, space bombardment and race customization at this stage is because we found those systems to have less or no major risks associated with them. We find that they’ll probably not change much from what MoO2 offers, if there will be significant changes in these systems at all. This is in contrast with other systems that were considered much higher risk like exploration and colony development, where some things had to be improved. These riskier systems were taken care of first so that we could be more confident that their design would hold up.
And, I’m glad to report that the design does seem to be holding up pretty well. We’ve been playtesting these gameplay systems, and others, internally and we can report that the game is already fun to play (and watch) already in this early phase of execution, which is quite promising.
Of course, we’re in need of fresh air now, so that’s where you enter with your ideas and suggestions for improvement.
\Last updated on December 3rd, 2018 by Adam Solo