Yeah, when it was released on the PC, most people don't realize or think about the simulation because it looks just like "a simple 2D space game".. until they get deeper & pay attention to the escalating consequences of their actions. Some fun facts, when you buy and sell goods on a port, you are actively contributing to that port's economy which factors in the faction's fleet production on it's Homeworld. If you tap on systems on the star map, it tells you the current economic output, like "stable, prosperous" etc. You can mess up the economy by pirating merchant NPCs going to/from that system, be a pirate which has consequences on the faction warfare. Likewise, repeated drug smuggling to a port cause mass addictions that lower productivity. A smuggler can really mess up a faction by drugging a few colonies. Economies which are struggling also has weaker security patrols, this leads to being ripe for Pirate raids. More pirates lead to more bounty hunters, and the conflict and ship destruction attracts the attention of Zerkers. Soon a system is totally messed up with all these guys shooting it out, with traders fleeing, blowing up left & right.. which results in the Hunter Guild sending more Hunters to the scene to clean up... and then peace settles in for awhile. The dynamic economy & conquest was the first thing I built, then everything else revolves around and/or facilitates it. A player noticed this early on when he was playing: https://youtu.be/PWT8rOz-dco?t=12m25s He commented on this, and it was spot on, it's the underlying simulation which most players won't notice. There's a lot of hidden stuff which I don't inform players, they will find out as they explore and play. I don't like to hold hands as you guys can see from the spartan tutorial, I like to think sci-fi space gamers are smart individuals who can think so I respect them. It's probably a flaw I know, in the next project, I'll be sure to do a really detailed optional tutorial at the least!
That sounds incredibly complex, I cannot think of any other game that comes even close to these underlying dynamics. You really should make a huge point of them in the various stores' game description. Next project? Personally, I'd love to see full-blown RPG set in your universe, it's a great setting.
The entire UI could be bigger. It's kind of hard to register if you are hitting anything. I understand the principle and mechanics behind the flight stick, it would be much simpler to have it float and have a break button. You have a tactical pause for if it gets hectic. It's just awkward to use for the type of gameplay. This isn't an arcade shooter of course, but I shouldn't struggle to pull up next to a planet or station and try to dock. Or travel to another system.
iPad Pro 12.9" 1. Great to see a Dev so active in our forum so hats off to you sir! That alone is worth the entrance price in my opinion. 2. I'm about to buy an iPad Pro (the big one) and wondered whether any other forumites have played this on it (and whether there are any major bugs etc specific to it)? It seems perfect for the bigger screen but I am concerned that there may be issues (it's generally the last iPad devs bother with lol). 3. It would be nice if the Dev could feedback to the forum how successful developing his for the iPad was (from a financial standpoint) after the dust has settled. We don't need it in terms of dollars, roubles or pounds (God bless the queen) but as a consumer it's nice to know whether the iOS market is good or bad place for a developer to be!
If you want to get the game tested on some other devices you could always PM codes to folks here with them rather than needing to buy them all. I've worked with several Devs on bugs on particular iPads etc. (I have nothing but time on my hands) I'm on a 9.7 Pro now. That .probably won't answer possible issues on a 12" Pro but it might be useful for the new internals. Let me know if it would help you.
The first review is out: http://www.mobiletechreview.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=49462 The editor reached out and contacted me a week ago for a review code and I obliged. I agree with most things in this review, though graphics I would have given it a 3... The focus was always gameplay & making a simulation that's dynamic and responsive to player actions or inactions.
It's a bit hard to describe in short phrases. A blob of text like what I did, nobody will read. haha The next project is a combination of apocalyptic & fantasy theme, survival, recruit management, exploration, trade, conquest, farming & crafting, party-based RPG. Re: iPad Pro, it should run it just fine, the bigger screen real-estate just makes everything easier (maybe holding such a device for a long time may stress hands/wrists?). @Defard Sure, I can do a short summary when the dust settle. I did one for the Steam release, essentially I had a goal of how many copies sold I wanted and it's a modest one. I passed that goal after 2 months on Steam. It's such an amazing platform for small time indie devs. I mean if you think about it, very few other industries offer such an opportunity to some small-fry, random out of nowhere... but PC gamers, they give us small time devs a fair chance. Something interesting, the feedback I get from early testers is they rarely ever use the active pause. I use it all the time, since there's no penalty and you can analyze the combat situation better, which target to focus fire, which side etc. So there's a disconnect in the design intention and how it's played.
@AH_Phan Not to nit pick... but I don't recall seeing directions when you first start (in the tutorial screens) about "ship storage". Honestly, I started a bounty hunter.. ran off to kill bad guys.. realized I didn't have weapons... so I restarted and started as a trader.... figured out I missed that point on like the 3rd or 4th food run.. I hit the wrong tab and realized I could have had gear/missiles/turret from the get go... Whoops.
It's in the first tutorial text. There's an optional Yes/No "Do you want a tutorial on the UI?" etc, and it mentions you have modules in the storage. When you open it, a large green arrow blinks pointing to the storage icon. The question then becomes: "Huy, why didn't you just make the ships start with the modules already equipped?" I was hoping to get players to equip at the start before they leave, so that they learn the equip/module UI first. But I guess it didn't occur to me people won't read (or just "yeah, yeah, next" glancing over) the info text.. well, it did, but I wasn't sure of how to get the point across that folks won't ignore.
I feel like I did read it but in my mind I thought "hey I'm dead broke, just got a basic ship so there shouldn't be anything in there yet".
I understand, I'll re-work the wording to better emphasize that there's starting modules to be equipped.
I love comments like these, I'm very much an old-school gamer, raised on the IBM 286 8mhz This was one of my favorite [Steam user review]: "I bought it on a whim and after a few hours I felt like I was a 9 year old kid sneaking into my dad's office to play escape velocity in the middle of the night again. It has that addictive 'just one more trade run' 'just one more pirate hunt' kind of feel and after playing for 2 days I feel like I've only scratched the surface of it's content. One of the really cool and unique features of the game is that all of your actions have an impact on the universe. Even as a peaceful trader you can watch a faction use the boosted economy gained from your trade runs to go on the warpath. Everything you do has a ripple effect."
No, it's un-related. This is more the game I wanted to make but at the time I was learning to code so I couldn't do it and that's why the first was minimal, arcade, simplistic. Though it had a charming story.
I've pushed an update for Apple to review, with the following changes based on the feedback from you guys here. Thank you for the suggestions. Change-log: * Added a fidelity mode toggle in the start menu (icon @ lower right), which may improve performance & battery usage. * Fixed a start menu audio sometimes not initiating. * Fixed the missile re-arm text to indicate tap & hold. * Scale the d-pad circle for 16:9 ratio devices, it is now slightly bigger. * The circle pad "red dot" center to disable engine thrust is slightly larger. * Increased the distance check for looting, landing, jumping and encounter activation. * Removed references to left-click and F1. * Improved starting tutorial text to be more informative. * Fixed a few random encounters not instantly saving upon completion. * Updated some Pirate taunts. Note that low-fidelity mode still looks very sharp because it's native full HD. It looks slightly more "pixel-arty", it improves performance/efficiency slightly because anti-aliasing and texture filtering is lower.
Great game! Although one problem I see, you land on a world that has been taken over and they still sell the same goods as the original owner, which may be illegal to the conquerors. You take of with those goods and they have a go at you, even though they sold them!
I bought this as a fan of Distant Worlds (which also has a complex economy model which I really enjoy) and I have to say this is so addictive. Being able to alter the world via my trade runs is awesome, love it! There aren't enough full hardcore PC strategy/RPG games on the iPad so I'm delighted that this game has made the leap. KUTGW and keep the updates coming to make it even better!
Thanks!! Yes, the port customs only check in space via patrols. Once you land, it's assumed you've bypassed the checks and can trade illicit goods freely. Another interesting thing, the captured worlds still sell their previous technology, weapon & ships. So if you're allied with one faction and you want to use another's factions tech/ships, you can do it via captured worlds. This was intentional. Thanks, it means a lot to me. If you guys did enjoy the game, please consider leaving a review for the AppStore. I do need every bit of help I can get.
