Objects in Space

[Rilzi]

There's a new space game just opened in early access that looks very interesting - a space trader with sub style control/combat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfYQpCyqlY8

I've watched a few of the devs videos and it looks close to my dream game so ill be trying it in the next week or so - has anyone played?

 

[Fishy]

I'm keeping an eye on it too. It's great to see some attempt at getting away from the space dogfight trope.

 

[Zak Gordon]

https://www.gog.com/news/in_development_objects_in_space

Also on GOG

RPS has covered this for a few years now and it always had lots of potential, so i'll keep my eye on it and keep my fingers crossed. I have thoughts of 'Silent Service' but in space, which could be really cool.

 

[Rilzi]

I couldn't help myself and ended up pulling the trigger on this game - played about an hour last night and im pretty impressed. I played through the tutorial, did a trade run, got halfway through a story mission before a c2d and called it a night.

I haven't tried combat, smuggling, exploration, or salvaging yet - but the basic trading game loop was pretty fun so i have high hopes.

The game reminds me in some ways of Starflight - the topdown view of space and the compartmentalized control specifically.

The story and world building are solid and have a depth I wasn't expecting. Reading through news bulletins and emails while in transit felt immersive and interesting.

Wandering through your ship and having different monitors and controls for different things works well and is one of the more inovative design decisions I've seen in a space sim before.

However it is buggy - repeating sound cues, etc and the aforementioned crash.

Speaking of sound the background engine noise is obnoxious and sounds like you are sitting in a ww2 era diesel sub.

While the sub feel is great, it would also be nice to see what my ship looks like, or what it looks like out a window. The only way I've seen to see your ship is the silhouette in the outfilling screen - hopefully making some ship and environmental art is in their to do list.

The 3d models are hilariously fugly - i dont know if that's a design decision to fit in with the retro style graphics or just temporary models.

Overall its a great Starflight/Frontier: First Encounters kinda game I've only scratched the surface of.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Looks like no waterfall scanner view, -3/10 worst game ever

Non-facetiously it looks neat for people who enjoy(ed) games like 688 Hunter/Killer or Wolfpack but were missing Stardew Valley in those, but I'm not sure if I could bring up the time or patience for it. I'm also not a fan of that pseudo-retro style.

 

[Memnoch]

I've been playing it for a bit and it has surprising depth. I like the little details you have with your ship upgrades. For instance, your Navcom shows you a map of the system you are in, including rendering objects detected by your sensors. You can have Navcoms that render in full colour, or green or blue screen. The latter have lower emissions and can make running stealthy easier.

Sensor upgrades can allow for faster identification of objects detected and more/less sensor ghosts. One other thing I noticed when I bought a Sensor upgrade is the waveform at the bottom of the screen, which looked like a line graph, was now replaced by a bar chart type readout instead.

The game continues to impress, I just wish it wasn't quite so fugly.

 

[Fishy]

Yeah, I actually like the retro look in the right context: shovel knight, axiom verge, hyper light drifter, dungeon of the endless, risk of rain... But for a sim, meh, it just looks worse than it should imho (the low-res pixellated display screens, because I don't mind the low poly models). That said, it's the 2d space and speed limits that hold me back a bit. Still on sale for 8 days on Humble, so I'll keep thinking about it.

 

[Jenner]

I've been following this for a long time and am quite interested in picking it up. I haven't pulled the trigger yet.... I've been watching let's plays on YouTube to get a better understanding of the game before I buy.

So far it looks like something I'd most likely enjoy. I find the dialog rather poor, though, and the 3d characters in stations are really ugly. The actual mechanics of flying your ship, though, look really fun.

 

[Fishy]

the 3d characters in stations are really ugly

On the other hand, your current avatar proves without any doubt that you have an awkward sense of aesthetics. [noob]

 

[Jenner]

On the other hand, your current avatar proves without any doubt that you have an awkward sense of aesthetics. [noob]

OUCH.

Fine...I'll go back to using Dash.

 

[Fishy]

OUCH.

Fine...I'll go back to using Dash.

I'd have gone with Pinkie Pie but that's still better looking than those... podly... iphoney... things...

 

[Memnoch]

Yeah, I actually like the retro look in the right context: shovel knight, axiom verge, hyper light drifter, dungeon of the endless, risk of rain... But for a sim, meh, it just looks worse than it should imho (the low-res pixellated display screens, because I don't mind the low poly models).

I agree. Low poly is fine but I would have preferred higher resolution screens, at least for the scanners and other in-game monitors. There are numerous other control improvements I would suggest such as being able to navigate lists with the cursor keys, just quality of life stuff really.

Some aspects of the games design make a fun game slightly tedious at times.

 

[Rilzi]

I kinda like the low res screens to be honest - maybe nostalgia? But if Fallout's taught me anything it's retro future is the best future. I agree that the controls could be tightened up though - I've lost track of how many times I've scrolled back out of the nav screen instinctively trying to zoom out.