Alpha Mars Commander

OnLashoc

Member

Started this development on Thursday night 02/13/2020, and I'm about 60% done.

What is Mars Commander? Mars Commander is a simple, compact, 1 room strategy game modeled after several older games wrapped into one.

What makes it unique? Well the graphics are simple and smooth (minus the original Mars title screen, that's 200+ frames and still not sure it's smooth enough)

How do I win? Survive for as long as you can to gain as many achievements as possible, or at least long enough to launch your recolonization fleet.

How do I lose? There are several ways to lose, revolt, betrayal, random events including assassination attempts, devastating asteroid impacts, martian sand storms, plague, starvation, and even alien invasions.

So how long will you survive as el Presidente, Terran High Commander, General of the Great Civil War of 2175? Plan and choose to spend your City & Planet Points wisely on raising and lowering wages, taxes, sniffing out assassins and drug runners, gaming at the Baelyn's Brewery and more. Oh yea, and them Moon babies, good old fashion, cold hard cash. A little bit goes a long way! Just make sure you keep the Colony fleet fueled, you're gonna need it!



I'll add some videos later, I been up almost 2 days straight as is :)

Onnie
 

OnLashoc

Member
I could see that, I forgot to add I was having my iPad Pro repaired and wont get it back until Thursday so all the art has been done in photoshop by mouse and keyboard. So the cities you see just look like black boxes, but they in fact contain the coding for multiple statuses which will control which image will be displayed for that city. What isn't displayed in the video is as the statuses change and the cities prosper, their colors change / will display a different graphic once I get that art done.

The game that I had in mind while making this has primarily been Master of Orion 1, then say maybe Xcom UFO defense (the original), Crusader Kings II, and then a little Roger Wilco. Every city has a backstory and setting. Here are a couple back stories from several cities:

Ares One:
Officially known as the second colony on Mars, Ares One is hailed as a major research colony within the Tharsis Province. Claiming to have engineered one of the most integral technologies produced to this day, the Micro-Colonization Module, the city has boistered its number of some of the most brilliant minds on Mars. Due to the city's claim as the "Second Colony," and the misappropriation of its Micro-Colonization Module, Ares One is in constant political strife with the Ares Two colony. Continuous sanctions from both parties have created Mars' longest standing political, geographical, and socio-economic rivalry.

Ares Two:
If you were to ask any settler when the colony was established, they will undeniably and snobbishly inform you that Ares Two was the second colony founded on Mars, despite the city's Ares One counterpart. Ares Two has been touted as a city surrounded in controversy since its inception. The colony is in constant political strife with Ares one, largely in part to the corporate espionage regarding the Micro-Colonization Module, a unparalleled machine that launched Martian colonization into a new era. To this day, corporate, political, and socio-economical subterfuge remain a large part of Ares Two's reputation. It has long been suspected that many criminal organizations play a significant role in the colony's influence in the Martian political and economic arenas.

Butcher Bay:
As a very vocal, well-known adversary of New Terra, Butcher Bay is directly reponsible for the Martian Civil War of 2175. A city thriving on anti-New Terran sentiment, political propaganda is frequently played throughout the streets of Butcher Bay to remind its settlers of New Terra's "Totalitarian" regime. The city has yet to recover from the frequent bombing raids of the New Terran Air Force during the Martian Civil War. After the cyber espionage of the New Terran Banking Network and the assassination of New Terra's Command General, Floyd Simmond (solidfying its namesake,) Butcher Bay remains a haven for political dissidents who lack the ability or "particular skills" to survive in the Cimmerian Province.

New Dodge City:
The unofficial "heart" of the eastern frontier, New Dodge City is reminiscent of Earth's "spaghetti western" life style. Technologically primitive in nearly every aspect, the city rings true to those seeking freedom and adventure without the burdens of traditional Martian society. New Dodge City is also a well-known "Unsanctioned City" to the New Terran Parliament, meaning it is a haven for illegal activity and contraband smuggling. The colony remains in direct opposition to Briar Patch's "Wyatt Earp" attempts to tame the Eastern Frontier, and their consorts wouldn't have it any other way.

Green City:
Thriving in some of the harshest conditions of the Martian terrain, some may say Green City's settlers were driven to madness. The small colony is situated in the Arcadian Province's northern most region, also known as the "Dead Sands," the self-proclaimed "Command of the North" despises every outside colony. Due to its remoteness and hatred for Martian civilization, the population of this colony has dwindled. Frequent inbreeding amongst settlers has plagued the settlement with genetic disorders and mutations. Despite its setbacks, settlers are conscripted from an early age to a brutal militaristic training and survival, making Green City a formidable colony despite its size.

And there is more source material to which I will link at a later time as I develop the animations and short stories.

When I say the game is 60% to 70% done, that is all framework and functionality. Only things left to put in are all the menu's at the bottom which are blown up expanded versions of the side bars, animations, and city graphics.


 
Last edited:

OnLashoc

Member
Currently finishing up the City info pop-up, I created a random event generator which will be what I focus heavily on next. Lastly I'll circle back around for artwork and animations then maybe hire someone to do the intro video and extras.

In the following screenshots, you will see the city graphics change (and will have further graphical changes as events occur), with the regions overlay on and off, as well as what the city info pop-ups look like so far.









 
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