Warp Gate

We expect to be submitting this week. Just waiting on some information regarding the release.

You won't have to wait much longer. The PR is being drafted up tomorrow (not saying the PR will go out, but it's getting written). So stay tuned.

And as always I'll try to answer as many questions regarding the game as possible. I just have to stay away from price (but it's nothing surprising) or release date.

 

This game looks great and very involved. Can't wait to see it in the store.

 

Hopefully you guys will release the game as soon as it's approved by Apple!

Question - concerning the ship you control, what sort of micromanagement options are there?

 

As in actual control (like go here, now go here)? All movement is controlled via tap on the location you want to go, or swipe in the direction you want to go.


Imagine an RTS where you only have 1 unit to control ever. When you encounter another ship your ship flies up and over them. Originally we had the ships steering around each other. But it felt weird to have your ship veer off at a 90 degree angle to go around someone. So instead you fly above them.

 

Ah, sorry, didn't make myself clear - what I mean is, for each ship that we fly, what sort of customisation can we make? Can we hire or fire crew? Can we, e.g., boost the shields to fly out of a sticky situation and get this energy from weapons? How about parts of ships - can we buy upgrades or do the ships come as a complete package?

 

Looking forward to checking this out. Been waiting for a space sim with "a bit more".

 

Most ships are pretty fixed in what they offer. The key to the game is buying a new ship. There are just about 100 different ships in the game.

Each Ship can hold up to 10 different weapons (some ships hold less than 10, but 10 is the max). And each ship has a Cargo hold. The starting ship you have holds 10 Tons of Cargo and can have 2 weapons.

Some of the huge cruisers hold 6,000 Tons of Cargo and have 10 weapon slots.

You can also buy Shield upgrades on planets. These add to your total shields. So a ship has a shield of 100, and you buy a +10 shield, you now have 110 Shields. The upgrades cary over from ship to ship automatically, and there is a finite number of Shield upgrades in the galaxy.

You can't boost your shields. They recharge over time, or if you land on a planet, you can spend your money to repair your shields. Also in keeping with video game tradition, if you buy a shield upgrade it also fully repairs your shields.

We wanted the focus of the game to be on buying and trying new starships rather than upgrading existing ships. When you buy a new ship, you sell back your old ship (at value) and all your weapons transfer over. If you can't fit your weapons, the sales bot will instruct you to sell one (at original price!). So you can't ever screw yourself over by buying a crappy ship. If the starship costs less than the ship you currently own costs, you actually get money back.

 

Hurry up and release the game!

 

Thanks for the info on starships.

I saw a screenshot from September that the galaxy map is divided into hexagons - is this still the case? And how many sectors are there in the game?

 

Thank you. Been waiting for more info on this one. Looks like a "buy" to me so far.

 

+1. Thanks Hippieman. I'm sure a lot of us reading have regained interest in the game!

 

To be fair to Hippieman, since he has been on the forum a few weeks ago, he has tried to be helpful. Much better than those claiming to work for Freeverse previously.

 

The hexagons are just for style on the Galaxy Map.

As it stands now, there are 34 different Solar Systems to explore. Each solar system contains a mix of Planets, Spacestations, Warpgates and Asteroids.

I'd like to extend the the universe by opening up new warpgates in DLC.

And again, sorry about in the past not being as communicative as we should be. Part of the merger with ngmoco is getting more time to communicate with fans.

Also, today I'm taking the screenshots that we will choose for iTunes. I also plan on submitting the app to Plus+ for certification (mostly making sure all the Awards unlock and Leaderboards are working properly). And once I get a clean bill of health on Plus+ I'll be submitting to the App Store.

 

will you tell your devoted fans when you submit the game?

 

Of course.

 

Great to hear it's near the finishing line! Does the Plus+ process take long?

 

We're all keen for a date of release.. surely it's so close we can get one? Roughly?

 

Hippieman said a few posts back that he can't disclose the release date... better not push him too much or he'll leave!