Disclaimer: I'm not really a writer.
SkyStronghold is a new multiplayer RTS. The entire game takes place on one server in one gigantic, procedurally generated galaxy with limited (although vast) resources. I use the term "RTS" loosely - this game is more of a mix of genres! It's a trading/economy game, it's an action game, and it's a conquest game. You can micromanage your space stations and ships as much as you want, or you can install varying levels of modules that control it for you. There's no limit to what you can do!
Gameplay
The entire game is mostly centered on the concept of orbit. Everything happens in orbit of a planet, a star, an asteroid, etc. Space battles, station construction, everything. Stations are your home bases and can be customized using modules. Each module does something, whether it's a warehouse, hangar, factory, habitation center, or otherwise. Resources (citizens, fuel, water, ore, etc.) flow between modules via transport vehicles. The number of vehicles you can have is limited by how many garage modules you have; bigger garages allow you to have more vehicles, thus speeding up the transit of resources around your station.
More on stations
Stations have the most depth out of any feature in the game. Habitation modules are the most important thing you will build: this is where your colonists and workers live. Without either, you won't be able to do much! More workers means that building projects can be finished more quickly, but this also means more wages to pay and more mouths to feed. Without the backing infrastructure, your workers will quickly starve and revolt. You don't want that!
To make sure your workers have food to eat, you must either provide meals or secure a source of food for civilian-owned stores to buy from. This is where the customizable level of management comes in, too. You could, for example, build a freight manager's office in one of your hangars and hire a freight manager to work out of it. He or she will handle finding shipments on the local market to keep stores supplied. Either way, stores will place orders for certain items, and if these orders aren't filled, the entire system will quickly grind to a halt.
To be continued!
Releases
As of right now, SkyStronghold is in the pre-alpha phase! This means that the only releases are small demos highlighting individual features. The game is far from complete, and anything you do will not be saved yet. Alpha will begin when user registration, the basics of persistence, and enough features are done. Beta will begin when most features are done, and Gold will arrive when the game is considered complete. Updates after Gold will primarily be expansions.
0.1pa - Release 0 Download | Initial release demonstrating basic controls
0.5pa - Release 1 Download | UI is in. EXE only right now, sorry! See later posts for a .love. Requires 0.9.0.
Roadmap
What's done:
- Basic networking
Entity system and replication
Chat
Early version of galaxy generator*
- User interface
Building space stations
- Website backend
Finally, screenshots!
Not a screenshot, but a sample plot of systems (not stars!) in the game
- 7R9dIXH.png (406.76 KiB) Viewed 440 times
From 0.5pa showing off station placement
