Month: October 2014

I relish strategy games that find a way to simplify their nuances without losing flavor. GalCiv had me after the first minute as do most games with a similar point-and-click design.

That doesn’t mean I don’t long for the deep SciFi games, planet busting and star crushing like what you see in Distant Worlds or Space Empires.

SpaceCom leans fully closer to GalCiv in nature and design while deviating slightly. You’re presented with a node map of stars/planets you will want to invade for inhabitation or obliterate to limit possible conquest. Each planet has only a few options for build and the game is built on a rock/paper/scissor approach. You have a customary short list of Battle Station, Kinetic shields and troops. Then you have the fleets: Battle Fleets counter other space-born ships, Invasion fleets conquer planets and Siege fleets destroy planets/structures.

Games vary in length and I’ve been able to clear some of the campaign levels in 15-20 minutes and I can see where other games might take hours as you vie for control of key systems.

Delightfully, it’s up for relatively cheap at $15 via Steam. It’s worth checking out a couple of videos, there’s nothing going on you can’t see in the first few minutes.

http://spacecom-game.com/

Comments closed

Elite: Dangerous has it’s teeth in me. It’s only into the second of three beta phases and with possibly much more beta to go and yet I want to play. Even though I know it’s all getting wiped out down the road I want to spend my hours drifting in space and hunting wanted criminals or moving cargo.

It’s such a pretty game, one of those games you play in the dark and let the subtle colours of space catch your eye.

I’ll post a video of some space-navigating in early November and possibly after launch. It’s worth watching some videos, everything you see is navigated by hand from someone using a keyboard or controller/joystick. No autopilot, no “click here to orbit” or “press x to dodge”. And it’s better for it. Few other games capture the cockpit sandbox experience quite like this. And better yet, it’s not even done yet. Frontier Developments, the team behind Elite: Dangerous have a litany of ideas that will go into the game well after launch.

I’d love to see some of you in space with me. Contact me and let me know if you’ll be there.

http://www.elitedangerous.com/

Comments closed

I hadn’t noticed, time flies when you’re not watching. Spacecom released on September 17th, so I find I might have a busier weekend than previously expected.

I’ll talk more about it and see about including screenshots or art of some nature later this week. Stay tuned!

Comments closed