Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Combat

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Grifman
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Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Combat

Post by Grifman »

This game looks to scratch a lot of itches:

http://blogjob.com/oneangrygamer/2016/0 ... mechanics/

http://www.stellartactics.com/#
Explore

Delve into hidden bases, ancient ruins and caves on planets
Scout derelict ships, abandoned space stations and anomalies
Prospect and mine asteroid fields and planetary resource nodes
Gather scanning data that can be sold for profit
Pilot your ship across a massive procedurally generated universe in search of fame and fortune

Fight

Fight, disable and board enemy ships
Utilize Psionics - a powerful psychic energy - pyrokinesis, psychokinesis, cryokinesis and geokinesis
Augment your weapons and defenses with modifications, devices and nano-technology
Build your own specialists in a classless progression system - choose from over 300 skill perks to customize your team members

Trade

Choose your ship - fast and light for smuggling or massive and slow for large loads of cargo - pilot 40 ships, each with a unique upgradeable configuration
Establish the most profitable trade routes between systems
Craft some of the most powerful gear in the known universe for use or trade
Hack stations and place data buoy's for real time trading data

Loot

Procedural loot system generates thousands of item combinations
Five weapon tiers, from basic to epic including armor sets and legendary weapons dropped from hand crafted faction and world bosses
Customize your team with upgrades and modifications
Personal shields, devices and med-packs will keep you alive when used strategically
Sounds very interesting.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by jztemple2 »

Sounds good, I signed up for the newsletter.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Stuie »

I played a lot of Traveller back in the day, probably more than I played Dungeons and Dragons, and I've always longed for a game that would capture the spirit of the adventures my friends and I went on back then (and the "official" Traveller PC games back in the early 90s didn't do that). Here's hoping this can fill that void for me... looks promising.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by raydude »

from the press release wrote:“You play an elite warrior genetically modified, bred for warfare. You and your team will wake to investigate an occurrence on one of the ships that carry the remnants of your people, suspended in a deep sleep for the long sub-light journey.
So I get to play as Khan? I am intrigued.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by killbot737 »

Looks neat but I have to say I despise that website design style.
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Paingod
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Paingod »

killbot737 wrote:Looks neat but I have to say I despise that website design style.
Yeah. That looks a lot like the WIX hosting service template our marketing person used for our business website. It's an abysmal design, IMO.

Website aside, I love the premise, but the demo video makes it look somewhat stiff and lifeless. I hope that's not the case in the end. I'd enjoy playing something like this, but will need to wait for more data before jumping in.
Last edited by Paingod on Wed Feb 17, 2016 3:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Daehawk »

Im sold! This is exactly the game I used to love. Back in the late 80's early 90's there were games like this. Games where you traveled the stars and had turn based combat on planets. Back then stuff like that made me SO happy. i wonder if I could still enjoy them? This should be wonderful.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Jeff V »

The description reminds me a bit of Starflight and Jagged Edge, both games I really liked (until I hit a game-killing bug in JE). Something to keep an eye on for sure.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Grifman »

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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Max Peck »

Now available on Steam as an early access title. It's CAD$21.99 so I'd guess that's about 19.99 Ameribucks.
Why Early Access?
“Welcome to Stellar Tactics!

Stellar Tactics will be constantly updated with fixes, new content, an expanding story and new locations during Early Access and after release. Your feedback, comments and suggestions will be critical for the next steps in the development process. At this point I need as much feedback as possible.

Disclaimer: Though all the features released to Early Access are ready for feedback, there may be unexpected issues and some added features may not be as polished as I'd like them to be. I'd recommend purchasing the Early Access version of the game only if you want to support the development of Stellar Tactics. Please review the Stellar Tactics Roadmap in the discussion forums.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
“I'm not sure. I am committed to making this a great game and much will depend on your feedback and support. I'll be adding content constantly over the coming months, tuning game play based on feedback and implementing features listed in the Stellar Tactics Roadmap, posted in the discussion forums.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
“The final version of the game will open up tens of thousands of systems to explore, space combat and more. I'd like to add the following features over the coming months:
• Access to 10,000 sectors
• space combat
• the ability to trade commodities across the universe
• dynamic mission and faction warfare generator
• complete perk system
• device system
• faction system
• crafting system
• repair system
• planetary mining
• access to all ships and upgrades
• additional hand crafted story content”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?
“The Early Access version of the game is fully playable and contains the entire beginning story-line and all supporting features. It will give players a good idea of what they can expect from the full version of the game when it's released. I will be adding new content regularly over the course of Early Access.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
“Stellar Tactics price may go up, down or stay the same during and after Early Access. I'm not expecting to change the price, but it is possible.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?
“I'm always looking to gather insightful feedback and ideas from the game community. I'm particularly interested in suggestions for improvements on the game systems, balance, story and the core game experience. I'll be interacting with the community through the Steam Discussions forum, carefully considering feedback and sharing my decisions on changes to the game that are community driven.”
Main features:
  • Build a team of space mercenaries and explore a vast open-world universe
  • Classless character progression system with hundreds of perks
  • Engaging narrative based on thousands of years of lore, intrigue and faction warfare
  • Accept dynamically generated missions, follow the main story or explore - the choice is yours
  • Discover ancient civilizations, abandoned stations, cave systems, anomalies and the ruins of hundreds of years of unrelenting warfare
  • Tactical, turn based team combat - take advantage of cover and use your action points wisely to ensure victory
  • "Azimuth", a synergistic combat system, presents new challenges for strategic players
  • Action based space combat utilizes energy management and unique skills and perks
  • 40 ships to choose from. Each can be customized and specialized as cargo, mining, exploration or combat vessels
  • Devices allow the player to fit a total of 12 unique effects both beneficial and combat specific across their team members
  • Tons of gear, most of which can be upgraded with Nano-Tech and component parts to customize your team and ship further
  • Trade commodities across the universe, discovering the best trade routes in a dynamic economy
  • Mine for minerals in space and on planets and sell them to the highest bidder
  • Scan systems to reveal new exploration opportunities or sell the data for profit
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by tgb »

I haven't seen a feature list that hit so many hot buttons since No Man's Sky. I hope this turns out as well.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Daehawk »

Did anyone buy and play this? Its on the Steam sale but i know nothing more of it. Ill search the web too. Not sure if it was good. I am just now reading the new Master of Orion game thread. It seems a big success.
Last edited by Daehawk on Mon Jul 03, 2017 12:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Freyland »

Daehawk wrote:Did anyone buy and play this? Its on the team sale but i know nothing more of it. Ill search the web too. Not sure if it was good. I am just now reading the new Master of Orion game thread. It seems a big success.
Heya

Your post has confused me. Stellar Tactics is not actually on sale with Steam. The new Master of Orion game has gotten mixed ratings and the general consensus is that it is shallow and requires mods to be enjoyable (YMMV, I'm sure). Just looking for help since both games are of interest to me (have MOO, never really did anything with it).
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Daehawk »

Crap I saw it in my wishlist and thought it was on sale like about all the rest lol.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Max Peck »

Freyland wrote:
Daehawk wrote:Did anyone buy and play this? Its on the team sale but i know nothing more of it. Ill search the web too. Not sure if it was good. I am just now reading the new Master of Orion game thread. It seems a big success.
Heya

Your post has confused me. Stellar Tactics is not actually on sale with Steam. The new Master of Orion game has gotten mixed ratings and the general consensus is that it is shallow and requires mods to be enjoyable (YMMV, I'm sure). Just looking for help since both games are of interest to me (have MOO, never really did anything with it).
Well that should settle it. If there's one thing that Daehawk hates, it's modding games before he even plays them. :P

FWIW, I wouldn't describe MOO as shallow as such, but rather as being a beer-and-pretzel 4X (which is largely true of the original MOO2, for that matter). By design, it isn't as complex as something like Stellaris or Distant Worlds, but that doesn't make it a bad game.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Holman »

ST does look interesting!

I'd never heard of it before this thread, so thanks.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Grifman »

New trailer, looking pretty good for a one man indy production:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wic6Edwj4Qc
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by ColdSteel »

I've had my eye on this for a long time. If he finishes it up properly, I will buy it for sure.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Com

Post by Hyena »

Bought this the other night, and I've been playing a lot of it. It reminds me of an old game from back in the 90s called Planet's Edge. I posted something very similar over in this Sci-Fi games thread, but it's worth a repeat. It really does seem like a spiritual successor to it, down to the four characters the player gets to make and specialize each one. You even get to upgrade and build new spaceships, go out and blast things in combat, and get into turn-based combat on planetary side missions.

Well worth 20 bucks, and if he lives up to some of the things he's posted that are coming, it'll be even more enjoyable.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Combat

Post by Paingod »

I bought this a few days back and have been giving it a spin. If this is a one-man show, it's impressive... but kind of shows.

Things I like so far:
  • Having a squad and a ship to manage, and using both for combat.
  • Character customization (in skills) is good, and based on actually using those skills - so what you do is what you get better at.
  • A learning curve for ship combat.
  • An interesting backdrop to start in, leading to later events making sense.
Things I'm neither impressed nor offended by:
  • The visuals and general audio. It's serviceable, and that's fine for a game in this category.
  • Tactical combat plays out as you'd expect. AP's to move & shoot, line of sight, etc. No concept of cover, though.
  • Tactical animations are a little janky - but I stopped noticing it pretty quickly.
  • You can highlight objects that can be looted/used with "Tab" - but they don't move to the top layer and you can miss something if you're not swinging the camera around.
  • No showstopping bugs so far.
Things I'm not enjoying:
  • I've turned off the sound to avoid hearing squad acknowledgements and outbursts.
  • Move orders cannot be interrupted by loot/interact orders. I have to wait for my character to stand still for 2 seconds before I can successfully loot anything.
  • The space portion of the game is a little sterile. I don't feel like it's a "living" universe out there, and the only fights I've gotten into were when stations and planets alerted me to hostile raiders and I had to either accept or reject the mission to fight them. No wandering pirates or interstellar fleets cluttering planetary orbits making me feel like I'm not alone there. A handful of ships here or there at most in a vast, empty space. I mean - I want to get into trouble sometimes, and not just drift and wait for someone to offer me a fight as a mission.
Ship combat is ... different. Your ship is classified as an "Interceptor" - but you have to fly it like a combat freighter minigame, not a FPS space fighter game. Turn on your shields and turrets, manage the focus direction and power usage, divert power from thrust to defenses. Your crew auto-attacks enemies in range, and your job is to try to keep your strongest shield facing the enemy while moving to keep their weakest shield absorbing your fire so you can punch through and destroy them. There is no in-game tutorial, and you will need to look one up online to succeed at even a basic fight.

I haven't broken out of the initial missions, though. Maybe the game changes around a bit once I'm free to sandbox?

The developer seems interactive, too. I'll probably leave a list of my thoughts in his mailbox.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Combat

Post by Tampa_Gamer »

Thanks for the report - this is on my Steam wishlist and I read the developers 30-60 day periodic updates, but with so many other early access games in my active play list I just don't have the time to dive on this one yet. Please keep us posted.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Combat

Post by Paingod »

A 2 year old RockPaperShotgun review of the game.

A few of his biggest problems were fixed - AP pools aren't so small you suffer, combat isn't so deadly - but other things remain. The environments are repetitive and sterile, there's little to find, it's easy to get jammed up in a hallway during a fight, there's no cover or concept of it.

The developer's last update blog has some good news, but no big fixes to the core gameplay. As a tactical game, it's weak. As a space shooter, it's weak. Thing is, I don't have anything else in my library that covers both and I've always liked mix&match games where more than one game element was in play. I tend to be more forgiving of games that cover two or more scopes.

Space Rangers is the pinnacle of this - text adventures, turn-based ship combat, arcade-style subspace fighting, and RTS with robots on some planets. This game is no Space Rangers, but I'm 6+ hours in and enjoying myself somewhat still. Not loving it, but not regretting it.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Combat

Post by Daehawk »

I remember in the 90s there was Breach and two games that you bought separately that could interlock..If you had I think it was Rules of Engagement..a space sim....you could get Teagals Mercenaries or maybe it was Breach and then could board starships to fight.
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Combat

Post by Tampa_Gamer »

Speaking of 90s era games, this reminds me a bit of Megatraveller I & II (which I still have the manuals and 3" floppies for in my den closet).
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Re: Stellar Tactics - Open World, Ship Combat, TB Ground Combat

Post by Daehawk »

I wanted those games. I read and reread the back of the box in the Software Etc store. I didn't yet have a PC then. Man I really wanted those. Maybe still buy to collect when Im out of debt.
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