Space Game General All-Platform Thready Discussy Thing :)

Not sure if you’ve seen this new project Brian - Star Zeal on indiegogo from a South African dev.

I did not, thank you!

Scored as a “wait for sale.” But the bug he mentions has since been fixed.

25% off Ancient Frontier until 9/28.

OMG Astrox Imperium announced!

http://astroximperium.com/

That looks orders of magnitude better than the original. But man, I really, really wish that mining caused smaller rocks to be discharged from where you were mining and had to be sucked up. There’s something about the beam auto-magically depositing ore into your cargo that seems much less satisfying.

That’s the way I prefer it, actually, though I see the appeal of your way, of course.

I loved the original because it reminded me so much of mining in EVE without the ganking part. Loved the game though the replay value wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. Really looking forward to the new one.

I had no idea that the first began as a browser game, btw. That explains a lot graphically.

Think we will see this on steam in early access?

I certainly hope so. Having the developer back on the podcast in late November, so I’ll know more then. :)

Awesome!

So, I got to thinking about what makes mining fun and I have a thought you might like.

Ever play a game where the guns just don’t feel good to shoot? There’s no sense of power or impact and you feel disconnected from what you’re doing?

That’s how the mining looks to me in Astrox. But just like in that example, it isn’t really about the mining, but the visual and visceral stuff that goes with it. I bet that with this massive upgrade this game represents, they could add some particle effects to the mining beams without actually changing the way mining works. Heck, they could even show little bits of rock splintering off just for show. And it could be optional for lower-end rigs.

Thoughts?

His review seemed much more positive than his recommendation, even if the bug bothered him so much.

I don’t need much. Mining beams in Jumpgate had a splash effect of sorts as your mining beams hoovered in ore. That was enough for me.

Stable Orbit is out of Early Access and on sale for 10 Quatloos. Yea or nay?

I’m content with KSP for that kind of gameplay, and I barely have time for KSP, so I guess I’ll pass.

This is definitely a more focused experience than KSP.

Anyone jumped in to try the open beta for From Other Suns this weekend? It didn’t look like Brian was planning to do much, so maybe he can give it a spin ;P

Wait, what is that?

Oh, it’s a VR game. Feh.

Look who’s on Steam now!