[PC]Libertas Aedifex - Elite/Freelancer/Wing Commander-esque

Hi, everyone!

I've started up solo development under a studio name of Jadelight Studio, and am currently working on a game called Libertas Aedifex. It's heavily influenced by games such as Elite, Freelancer and Wing Commander. Current progress is going well, with enemy AI, path-finding, combat and planetary landing already implemented, however there's still a lot of groundwork being developed before work can move onto other star systems.

Features:

• Top-down camera view, and your ship is controlled via holding left-click
• WASD movement for combat maneuvers
• 30+ explorable systems (and some hidden fringe systems you might be able to uncover if you're fortunate)
• 20 flyable ship types, ranging from fighters to gunboats, battleships and carriers (can launch small fighters for large skirmishes!)
• 24 laser types (7 base types, 24 including upgraded versions, including two prototype weapons
• 5 homing missile types, including one prototype (missiles are suited to anti-fighter engagement)
• 6 rocket launcher types (rockets are suited to medium ship engagement; these don't track targets but pack more punch than missiles and are just as fast)
• 4 torpedo launcher types, including one prototype (mountable to carrier-class ships and above, and suitable against very large ships. They'll also require a level of protection as the enemy can shoot them)
• 60 tradable goods to bring out your inner trader, and 15 contraband tradable goods for your inner smuggler
• 12 visitable planets and , each with commissioned artwork backdrops
• Balancing human needs - you need to buy food, water (*cough* or alcohol *cough*), have an official 'job' and pay taxes
• Buy an apartment, which acts as planet- or station-side storage for your items and credits
• Perma-death, so make sure you buy an apartment!
• Storyline- and side-missions
• Factions and friendly, neutral and hostile AI (which will try to dodge your shots), some with specific roles
• ... and you can... maybe... blow up a sun to wipe out a system when you eventually get enough firepower. But I won't be responsible for what happens, .
• Potential for more when development passes 50%!

Currently being developed:

• More commodities (need to think of 60 trade goods, ha ha)
• Currency system
• Planetary GUI system
• Planetary trade GUI (80% complete)

Screenshots (no planet-side imagery yet, as I'm waiting for late-October when the artist commission kicks in):

• One-on-one combat
• Exploring Space 1
• Exploring Space 2

Overall status: 11% complete

FAQ:

How are you approaching development of the game?

I'm working on it in stages. I have a rather large development checklist and when I start to feel like something different, I'll pick another part of the checklist to work on.

How long have you been developing this for so far?

Since I returned to the Construct 2 forums, so... 12 days I think it's been. Hard to tell, I spend at least 12 hours a day working on various related efforts.

Will it be browser-based, or what platforms is it being developed for?

Currently I'm focussing only on Windows, but because it's being exported using Node-Webkit, there are possibilities for Mac and Linux releases. I think there are some issues with those exporting options if I recall correctly, so I'm not going to confirm that there will absolutely be versions for those platforms.

Will there be a demo?

Yes! When the main groundwork for planetary infrastructure and functionality, more NPC and AI functionality, player inventory and stash mechanic are fully implemented, it'll be closer to a demo release. I'm not going to give a specific date yet, though, .

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Comments, suggestions and support are happily welcomed!

Is the view the one you posted or do you plan to have a zoom in/zoom out feature?

Will it be multiplayer?

I had planned to keep that view, possibly a bit larger. I'm going for scale here without having 8000x8000 layouts which might cause performance issues for people, so planets, suns and other stellar bodies are quite large, so ships need to be small in comparison. I'll consider making a zoom feature though, or making the initial viewport a bit smaller so ship sprites can be larger without making the system feel too small. Most battles will involve three to five ships and as you progress into harder regions of space, battles will contain 10+ fighters and a larger ship for back-up. There will also be occasional pirate incursions into systems they share borders with that will contain more, so a more distant scale works best, I think.

It is currently planned to only be single player as I'm not an expert on network security and connections, and would rather put all of my efforts into a single player game for immersion purposes. However, if I raise enough funds, either from release sales or KS backing (when the time comes), small-scale, cooperative multi-player may become an option.

Excellent, thanks for your explanations

JeffSkyrunner You're welcome! Any ideas or suggestions to add?