Playing this game brings to mind some really good science-fiction I have read.
The main one is a book called Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. It really is a gem especially if you are into serious hard SF with a human angle and some depth. Explores the challenges of closed life support systems and isolated human communities throwing up some really good situations.
Tip: It is one of those books where reading spoilers on the internet in advance would really spoil things.

Seeing as I tend to play the game in a rogue-like fashion, no save-scumming, currently on medium difficulty with basic platform start. I think that is a good way to give consistent feedback on the game balance.

I did a few play through's on Alpha 8 - furthest I got was just over halfway to the end of the first galaxy.
What usually got me dead was my desire for more crew leading me to get reckless with pirates. Losing a crew-member early on, so you have three, if there are no vital skills missing the game plays about the same as with four crew only slower. Fires can be more dangerous with only three crew to fight them and I nearly lost a few ships to them. Very exciting - I love fires.....
However if it were not for my risking crew with pirates, in general it is just a question of getting richer. Of course these are generalisations as a LOT depends on the mix of crew traits and skills and I only have five or six starts to go by.
I played one game so far on the experimental fertiliser update. I found another crew-member on about the fifth derelict so now I have five. Already I am seeing what a huge difference that makes.

If the dev's want me to give feedback on any particular aspect of the game while I am doing the whole scientific rogue-like play through's thing let me know in this thread and I will be happy to.

One thing would make it a lot better is an ability to have a ships log, and maybe also a character log, so we can record events and thoughts/responses  - I think that would really help with the enjoyment as, for me at least, this game currently is more about following the stories of the characters than overcoming challenges.
Anyway - More soon I expect. Love this game.

I am new to this community so sorry for starting a new thread if this has been discussed.
I was wondering if there is a plan for a game mode where there is a kind of on-going exploration, so when you jump to a system a new one is procedurally generated further down the line, in the fog-of-war,and you kind of just see how far you can get.
Maybe with badder aliens the further you go so that it won't literally go on forever (but hey - if the only limit to the exploration were the capabilities of the hardware that would be cool).
That would be my ideal expression of the way this game works - seems to fit perfectly with the way this game actually provides emergent gameplay from a background sim)
Anyway - 61 hours of gameplay later and I am not slowing down. Love this game.


*edit* I just saw this post

https://bugbyte.fi/forums/showthread.php...18#pid4218

Excellent!

Hi guys,


i bought this game 2 weeks ago. Playing every day or every second day one or 2 hours. It was fun.

On my first Universe, i started in south, one System on my left, rest on my right. So i jumped first to the System on my left. There were many Ships of all Factions maximum armed. I thought "ouh, hard", so i maxed my ship also with turrets and shields. As i jumped back and go to the right, the ships were weak again. I read in Forums, that you may find new Crewmembers in derelic Ships in Cryochambers. But i dont found, so i conquered several Ships of other Factions. Now i have visited half the Galaxy and i have 2 Big Ships with 30 Crewmembers. I could get more Crewmembers, but then i need more Food and Water. Water is the mainproblem. Sure, i have enough on Reserve, but on the first, 30 Crewmembers is enough. But what next? Till now, there was progress in this game. I can grow by Crewmembers, i can grow my ships. But now? Jump allways from one System to the other and junst Mine ressources?

I know this game is a early version, so there will be much to follow. And i read in this forums for some ideas.

1. The Planet Idea

I like this Idea to land on a planet. Building your own settlement. Water and food will be enough, and maybe one or 2 ressources. So, the job could be, bringing the needed ressources back in the city, capturing more Crewmembers and making your civilization grow. I know the problem was discussed, what happens with the planet, when player move elsewhere. or how do you land on this planet. i think this problems will be solved in this or that way. But planet is a good idea.

2. Mining Stations.

Maybe if its not possible at this point to land on a Planet, would be nice if there would be Planets, but you cannot Land on it, but build Mining stations in the Orbit. Every Planet has 1 or 2 endless ressources. So you can build mining stations, that do not count on your shippoints and only think you do, is trying to find those planets, get the ressources and again, build the Mining stations like little cities in the sky and you go through the whole universe to capture new crewmembers again (you see, i want to grow).

3. New Technics

Sure, new tech will help for this and that. make your production more efficient, so you need less water and get more food. You can build more or bigger ships. So there will be more progress and growing again. 


There are several good and i think more ideas to work on. Maybe there are many players who like flying from one star to the other and just surviving. But players like me like to grow. More Crewmembers. Get Bigger. Build More. Make your own Civilization. And and and. 

I dont know, where the thoughts of the gamemakers go, but i hope, they see my point, that many players need to grow. in what way you ever choose. 


Greetings from Germany :-)

I bought the game 1 hour when it was released on May 21st.  Steam says I have over 255 hours played so far. To say that I've enjoyed the game is an under statement. I have encountered things/events/issues that I would like to ask players and developers alike about what I've seen.
The ship building facet of this game is what drew me to it and enjoy designing and building ships. I have played many play through all the way to Eden. My settings are Peaceful, No aliens, very common derelicts, and have modded the game to start with 20 crew members and lastly I use sandbox mode. I'm interested in building quickly and exploring and gathering additional crew members.  My play throughs have been varied with new crew members, anywhere from 2 to 11 with my average around 5-6 new crew members.
Question - I have found that the only ship that has a sleep chamber is the one with a long neck with a square hull design at the top. Has anyone else found sleep chambers in the small derelicts? I generally by-pass them in favor of the bigger derelicts since I'm looking for crew members
I like to hunt and kill pirates and will chase them till dead.  Because of limited hand movements because of RA I do not attempt to board the newly destroyed pirate ship and will wait until their oxygen is exhausted. If another faction ship is there, they will help fight which I don't mind but what happens next is perplexing if not frustrating.  Any faction ship that is there or arrives after I destroy the pirate ship will almost always send a shuttle over to the pirate ship. This is the frustrating part because 1 of 2 things happen. The first is the ship that sends over a shuttle will go back and forth. What it is doing is beyond me but every time it docks I'm thinking that it refills their oxygen levels in their airlocks which prolongs my salvaging the pirate ship. The other thing that happens alot is the shuttle goes over to the pirate ship and since the pirates are still alive, they take them prisoners which in turn makes the faction ship into a derelict. When exploring there are no bodies and when I get over to the pirate ship, the pirate crew and the faction crew are all dead.
Question - is there any plans to flesh out the interaction with other factions? I've tested this alot and can't find any meaningful reaction with other factions.  I've had pirate faction at -100 and all the other factions at 100 and the only thing currently I can do is trade, give a gift, or see vision. Seems this area of the game is still being worked on. I have even set the beginning settings to have a few factions as allies and that still does not open any additional options. Also, any plans of expanding the scope of amassing credits?  Because my ships are floating factories, I usually have a bunch of items to trade and will what I like to call "dumping". I've collected over 275k in credits.  Other than a big number, is there plans on using credits in any way like purchasing "blueprints" or "shells" of other faction ships to build from?
Question - I know other factions will board derelicts and seem to be salvaging supplies and will bump my shuttle off the airlock  which triggers me to want to attack them. Once I've explored the ship and can begin salvaging the other factions will depart as if my exploring now has claimed the ship.  Do other factions when boarding a derelict open a sleep chamber and release a crew member?
I could write a book but I will end this for now. One last thing please.  Too Bug Byte, to the developers, to the game designers - wow thank you, this is a really fun game and being early access is fairly free of bugs.  I can not wait to see what you have in store for the future of the game. Again, thank you very much.  Many kudos to you all.

Merkreus

Hi.
looking at this game with an eye to picking it up. Looks like it fills a lot of niches in what i enjoy. 
Could someone explain what tbe soundtrack is that i can buy as an extra on steam. 
Not been able to work out what it actually does, or adds to the game, so unsure whether to invest in it as an extra.
Regards.