FreeOrion

Update: We have Entered the 2009 Intel Level Up Contest. Winning this contest would go along ways to gaining a publisher for our game as some of the judges for this contest are: Sid Meier (Civilization, Railroad Tycoon, Pirates), Will Wright (Spore, Sims, Sim City), and Brad Wardell (Galactic Civilizations, Sins of a Solar Empire). Winners of any of the categories get a invite to the 2009 and 2010 Game developers Conferences to pitch their game.

Contest site: http://software.intel.com/en-us/contest ... yid=132353

If you would like too see our game out sooner please register and vote, It will only take a moment of your time and every vote will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support and have a great day!

Since i've recieved feedback that the intel site is hard to navigate, i'm adding a link for the registration.
http://software.intel.com/en-us/article ... in-id-faq/



Hey we are a independent developer making a new 4x space stategy game I believe everyone here would be interested in. Here is the lowdown on our game:

Aphelion is a 4X(eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) turn based strategy based on a distant future. It features six distinct alien factions, pitted in a desperate battle for control of the galaxy. You can chose from six unique empires, each with their own distinct technologies, ships, units, strengths, and weaknesses. There are over 240 unique ships in the game. The game stays true to a pure turn based approach in all aspects, preventing the it from degrading into a reaction time based click fest when large forces meet. We use an unified system model, instead of managing each planet separately. This will help limit late game creep and keep micromanagement in check.. The game features a circular galaxy which has no corners and a black hole in the center. This will increase strategy, as player's can't hole up in the safety of corners, and results in more equal starting position for all.

Aphelion: Phoenix Rising features:
Engaging and complex storyline which unfolds as the game progresses.

Dynamic technology trees specific to your race that change every game for greater replayability.

Six distinct civilizations, complete with their own look, units, technology, and strategies.

Dynamic diplomacy systems, alloying the forging of alliances along with many other forms of treaties such as trade, friendship, war pacts and non-aggression treaties.

Engaging espionage system in which you can assassinate, sabotage, spy, and frame your enemy. This system is complete with repercussion in the event of disclosure of deeds.

Spectacular 3-D space battles in which the outcome can change in a second due to a reactor going critical, or a boarding party forcing their way to the ship's bridge.

We are a small developer, but that does not mean that we do not have big dreams. In order to get noticed, we need to make some noise in the game world. Please help by visiting our page on Gamespot so that we can be seen and attract the attention of a publisher. Thank you for you time, and feel free to visit our website or forums if you have more questions.

Gamespot page:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/aph ... mary;title

http://wyvernstudios.net/

Jared O'Connor

The game is looking good.

I like the ship model designs.
And space combat looks like Moo2 (which I liked) style, though I can't tell.

How long until this game is complete?

yes, the ships battles will be like Moo2 with some twists put in as well. We are looking at 1 year to finish the game development and 1 year of beta testing. as you proably know on games though, things can change. Hey if you have any more question feel free to ask.

Jared

Are you going to add some elements from Sword of the stars? For example, different movement types for different races, and hard points for turrets, etc...?? Also have you considered multiple map shapes like Sword of the Stars uses? Sure, a donut galaxy is fun and all... but other shapes can also provide thier own, unique strategic value to a game.

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No we will not offer different movement types for differnt races, There will be hardpoints for turrets in the game and they can be destroyed. We plan on offering the the standard Donut shaped galaxy, but there will be plenty a variable that can be changed (clumping, galaxy size, planet distribution)

Jared

I am rather dissapointed. I will not be playing this game.

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It sounded to me like you were asking him if it is going to be exactly like Sword Of The Stars. And surprise, it is a different game =)

Anyway, I think yea, just needs different galaxy sizes. But I can see the realism idea of having a blackhole in the center all the time. You can still change the shape of the galaxy.

I could care less about weapon hard points on ships. That's micromanagement bs. And I would rather different movement types be available to all races, at least those that start with different movement types have a longer way to go to get any others.

I didn't expect it to be like sword of the stars at all. I was just hoping it would use some key features like different movement types for each race. Oh and more then one galaxy map to fight in. Hard points are nice, but not a deal breaker here. The other 2 were deal breakers.

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Though those are interesting ways to differentiate a game, ours will be quite unique in many other ways such as in our technolgy tree, terraforming model, and model to name a few. Sorry if our choices disapoint you.

Sounds like just another spreadsheet. Oh well.

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Hello out there!

Since this game is still in development, if I may be so bold... I understand if you feel that there isn't sufficient market available to justify porting your game to a Linux environment. That's okay. (I would be willing to pre-purchase it right now if you made the commitment to port to Linux, however -- and I would even go so far as to do word-of-mouth recommendations for you folks based on that. Just food for thought! )

But if that seems like too much effort, please allow me to at least recommend ensuring that it runs well on WINE? That's a vastly lower threshold than an actual port, and it gets you into both the Linux //and// the Mac market shares. Depending on the hardware requirements, that could conceivably open up a great deal of netbook users to you.

I know that I, personally, have seen a great deal of 4X TBS player overlap w/ Linux users. There's a reason why one of the most successful OSS games in the Linux Community is a TBS. (Battle for Wesnoth).

Thank you, in advance, for your time and attention.

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Function. Verify. Cultivate. Invent.

IConrad,

actually, we use openGL for our game, not directX and so it should run on Linux/Mac with very little modification. It has been our intent from the start to release on those plateforms. feel free to ask, if you have any more questions .

Dude, lol, be nice yo. =)

I think requiring a game to have unique movement for each race is a bit over the top really, since SOTS is the only game to have done that.

I'd say that of all the games out there at the moment, SOTS is the best. Galciv is shit as far as im concerned. You have to micromange your planets too much. And I hate that civ style movement.
I think nothing really beats Moo2 for me. In fact, try Astro Empires. Online rules theses days. And Astro Empires is mint. It's real time, ie building a research lab might take an actualy hour, or having your fleet travel to the other side of the galaxy might take 18 hours. It's good stuff. All browser based (html).